Heart Arrhythmia Causes

In layman's language, the condition wherein the heart loses its normal rhythm to beat, is referred as heart arrhythmia. In other words, the heartbeats per minute become irregular or abnormal. This irregularity may have two main forms; tachycardia (a condition that characterizes a heart rate that is over 100 bpm), or bradycardia (one that causes the heart rate to go below 60 bpm). It is not uncommon for anyone to experience a rapid or irregular heartbeat, or a slow one. In most cases, the condition turns out to be harmless. But sometimes, the symptoms are beyond the tolerance level of the patient thus, giving rise to fatal situations. The data on heart arrhythmia causes is as follows.

Heart Arrhythmia Symptoms

In most cases, it has been observed that cardiac arrhythmia remains asymptomatic. Meaning, it does not show any kind of signs or symptoms. This is why, people remain unaware, even if they have this condition. So usually what happens is, such conditions are detected by the doctor himself, post which, measures are taken to deal with the condition. But it is also true that some people do experience certain arrhythmia symptoms, which when tested later, are found to be associated with heart arrhythmia in children or adults. The most common one of them may be a fluttering sensation in the chest, which may be accompanied by chest pain. The person may feel his heartbeating faster (tachycardia), or slower (bradycardia). Shortness of breath is common, and so is dizziness and a feeling of near fainting. Know that, the occurrence of such symptoms do not intensify the chances of the problem to be a serious disorder. In fact, there have been cases, which showed no such heart arrhythmia symptoms at all, but were life-threatening.

What Could be the Heart Arrhythmia Causes?

Causes which are directly related to the cardiac function in the body include:

• Heart attack - this condition causes injury to the heart. It occurs due to interrupted blood supply to the heart. When it occurs, a part of the heart muscle may be damaged thus, causing irregular heartbeat
• Blockage in heart arteries - it is a coronary artery disease, where the coronary arteries become narrower, and may get completely blocked.
• Cardiomyopathy - causes the heart muscle to enlarge and weaken thus, changes in the heart muscle.
• Other factors which come into the picture as heart arrhythmia causes include conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, smoking, alcohol abuse, stress, and certain dietary supplements. The healing process post a heart surgery could also be one of the cases. The irregular heartbeats could be the result of stress, drug abuse, certain medicines, or electric shock. Not to forget, overactive thyroid glands (also known as hyperthyroidism), and herbal treatment procedures, as they are also among the causes.

Heart Arrhythmia Treatment

Having dealt with the possible causes of the illness, let us wrap up with the treatment options available. If your symptoms are not bothering you, then treatment won't be necessary, otherwise it is. The treatment consists of determining the underlying causes, and addressing it, and also the type of arrhythmia. In case, the condition is found to be idiopathic, then doctors focus on relieving the symptoms. Heart arrhythmia medications, devices that can be implanted in the body to help the heartbeat with a normal rate, and surgical treatment options are available. Patients are also educated about certain maneuvers, which help in dealing with a heart arrhythmia attack. One involves holding the breath, or coughing. Even dunking the face in ice water, also helps in slowing down the heart.

To give you a concluding advice for this article on heart arrhythmia causes, following a heart-healthy lifestyle, and diet, is good enough to avoid all such conditions. Some simple examples would be, to go for heart-healthy foods, cutting on alcohol and caffeine, shunning smoking, and performing exercises regularly.