In medical terms, the sensation of your heart racing, heavily fluttering or pounding is known as palpitation. Heart palpitations occur when you get the feeling of your heart skipping a beat or altering the rhythm altogether.
[the_ad id=”6287″]
As a result, you become unpleasantly aware of your heartbeat surrounding your chest and throat regions. Most heart palpitations are harmless, but in certain isolated cases, they can be indications of severe complications.
Heart Palpitations: What causes them?
There are several reasons for heart palpitations that are because of unhealthy lifestyle choices which contribute significantly to heart palpitations symptoms.
- Anxiety, stress, fear or panic attacks
- Caffeine and nicotine intake
- Diet pills
- Vigorous exercise
- Illegal hard drugs and alcohol abuse
- Hormonal fluctuations due to pregnancy
Some heart palpitations can be worrisome, especially those due to arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm. This major cardiac health issue arises due to:
- Abnormal blood electrolyte levels
- Low blood sugar
- Medicines used to treat hypertension or asthma
- Hyperthyroidism
- Heart disease and abnormal heart valve
- Hypoxemia or low blood oxygen levels
Types of Heart Palpitations –
Arrhythmia gives rise to the following kinds of heart palpitations:
- Atrial Fibrillation:Also known as AFib, atrial fibrillation happens when the upper chambers of the heart flutter causing irregular heartbeats and can lead to cardiac arrest or heart failure.
- Supraventricular Tachycardia:An umbrella term that encapsulates many forms of heart arrhythmia, this occurs when electrical impulses controlling heartbeats function abnormally. These originate about the ventricles in the atrial-ventricular node region.
- Ventricular Tachycardia:This issue arises due to faulty signals in the heart ventricles, resulting in your heart beating faster than usual.
Premature Ventricular Contractions:
PVCs are essentially extra heartbeats that take place when the ventricles squeeze too early. This causes heart palpitations resulting in your heart racing and abnormally fluttering. PVCs are not serious unless you have a major cardiac disease.
Doctor recommended tests for Heart Palpitations
If your cardiologist suspects that your heart palpitations are due to arrhythmia, the following tests might be recommended:
- Chest X-rays:To test for the presence of fluid in your lungs that comes from heart failure
- Electrocardiogram:Records your heart’s electrical signals both when you are resting and exercising. The latter is done to test your stress levels.
- Holter Monitoring:By attaching a monitor to your chest for 24-48 hours, this tests discrepancies in your heart rhythm.
- Event Recording:A device is attached to your chest which is connected o a handheld device to monitor changes in heart rhythm.
- Echocardiography:Provides detailed information about heart structure and function by conducting an ultrasound examination.
Heart Palpitations Treatment: What are my options?
There are no specific heart palpitations treatments as this condition occurs due to other primary reasons. If your condition is temporary and harmless, no medical treatment is required. For heart palpitations that arise due to arrhythmia, cardiologists may prescribe certain medications.
Heart racing and heart flutter symptoms due to the abnormal cardiac rhythm are generally treated with antiarrhythmic prescription drugs like beta-blockers that follows a calcium channel blocker therapy utilizing non-dihydropyridine to help slow heart rate and lessen blood pressure. Other direct drugs are also administered that primarily target the calcium and potassium channels of the heart.
Lifestyle Changes
In most cases of heart palpitations treatments, doctors advise simple lifestyle changes that can go a long way in reducing heart palpitations by avoiding the trigger points that cause the heart to flutter. Of course, these will only show results when the patient does not have prior heart diseases or does not suffer from arrhythmia. These include:
- Cutting back on and eventually quitting alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine to avoid stimulants
- Avoiding over-the-counter medications without doctor’s prescriptions
- Working towards reducing stress and anxiety through practicing yoga, taking up hobbies, meditation and breathing exercises
- Eating a healthy and balanced diet is a great home remedy for palpitations
Source:
