What can be done for an irregular heartbeat?

Dear Reader,

A heartbeat that races, goes too slowly, or stutters — any sort of irregular heartbeat — is called an arrhythmia. Arrhythmias affect about 5 percent of people and are more common in adults over 65 years. Symptoms of an arrhythmia include:

• an abnormally quick or slow heartbeat
• chest pain
• dizziness
• light-headedness
• fainting
• chest palpitations

Biologically speaking, the human heart follows a precise sequence when it beats: one chamber of the heart, called the right atrium, acts as the heart’s metronome, sending out an electrical signal that causes different parts of the heart to contract, one after another. When everything is timed right, blood flows properly through the heart to the rest of the body. When the sequence is disturbed or interrupted in some way, the rhythm of the heart can get thrown off. Arrhythmias can be dangerous because vital organs might not receive enough oxygen to function. If the brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen, for example, a stroke can occur, possibly causing brain damage or death. If the heart pumps inefficiently for an extended period of time, a patient can have congestive heart failure, a condition that can be fatal, as well.

Certain risk factors increase the chances of developing an arrhythmia:

Genetics

Being born with a heart abnormality or having a family history of heart problems can increase the risk of an arrhythmia.

High Blood Pressure

This might increase the thickness of the walls of the heart, interfering with electrical signals being properly transmitted.

Age

The heart muscle weakens when it gets older, possibly affecting how electrical signals are transmitted and received.

Alcohol and Other Drugs, including Herbal Supplements

Caffeine and nicotine can alter a regular heartbeat, as can amphetamines and cocaine. Likewise, heavy alcohol consumption can interfere with electrical impulses. Some over-the-counter cough and cold medicines and the herbal supplement, ephedra (now banned in the United States), also have been shown to disrupt regular heartbeats, resulting in some deaths.

Diabetes

People with diabetes have trouble maintaining the proper amount of sugar in the bloodstream. If diabetes goes unregulated, important cells in the heart (and elsewhere) might not get the energy they need and become damaged, interfering with the proper functioning of the heart. Untreated diabetes also can change the acidity of the body — if the heart’s environment is altered, an arrhythmia can result.

Thyroid Problems

The thyroid produces hormones that regulate metabolism. If the thyroid produces too much or too little hormones, the result can be an abnormally fast, slow, or irregular heartbeat.

You mentioned that your doctor is going to give you a Holter (not halter, but close) monitor. A Holter monitor is a portable electrocardiogram (ECG) device, meaning that it detects and records electrical impulses in your heart. About the size of a CD player, the monitor is attached by wires to small pads that are placed on your chest near the heart. You can clip the monitor to your belt; it records while you work, eat, relax, commute, and exercise, so your health care provider can understand how your heart behaves in the course of your everyday life. It’s also important to keep an accurate diary of your activities while wearing the monitor — when you return the monitor to your health care provider, s/he can extract the information the device has recorded, compare it with the diary you’ve kept, and get a better picture of how your heart works.

While arrhythmias can cause serious health problems, effective treatments, including medication or possibly a pacemaker, can safely manage or eliminate many cases of arrhythmias. Usually implanted somewhere near the collarbone, a pacemaker is a small device with a battery — electrodes extend from the pacemaker to the heart and send electric impulses to help normalize an irregular heartbeat. Another form of treatment is a catheter ablation, a process in which the cells that cause an arrhythmia are destroyed.

If you’re concerned about heart health in general, a varied, colorful eating plan and regular exercise — working up a sweat at least three times a week — can both help make sure that your metronome will keep on ticking for years to come. If you’re not sure where to start, your health care provider can help you work out a program that fits your specific lifestyle and health concerns, arrhythmia included.