Tachycardia is a pathological condition whose characteristic feature is an increased heart rate. The rhythm of contractions is uniform, the intervals between heartbeats are constant along the length. Tachycardia is a term for a symptom common to many diseases. Tachycardia is not an independent pathology. It is diagnosed if the heart rate per minute exceeds a hundred, and the beats are distinct, strong. Often, the condition is accompanied by a visible pulsation of the neck veins, blood vessels. At the same time, the patient feels dizzy, breathing becomes heavier, there is a feeling of imminent loss of consciousness, general weakness. Often it hurts in the chest, darkens in the eyes.
General information
Normally, in a he althy person, the heart beats with a frequency of contractions per minute from 60 to 80 beats, which is not felt at all. The pulse with tachycardia increases to hundreds of beats and above, which greatly affects the generalwell-being, quickly attracts attention. Often, the heart beats faster if a person is faced with increased physical exertion, if a fever begins, or the ambient temperature rises sharply. The response of the body in the form of a rapid heartbeat during nervous overexcitation, excitement, and overeating will be completely normal. If the increase in heart rate is provoked by natural causes, it is incorrect to talk about tachycardia. A pathological condition becomes if the pulse quickens when a person is calm.
The contraction of the heart muscle is due to the peculiarities of its structure - the presence of cells in the right half, in the area separating the ventricles from the atrium, as well as directly in the atria. In anatomy, cells are called pacemakers. The accumulation of structures on the right side of the organ is the sinus node, the most important element that sets the frequency and rate of contraction of the heart. In addition to it, there are other elements through which heart contractions are organized, but they are all secondary (His bundle, Purkinje fibers, atrioventricular node). The heart muscle is excited by sinus node activity, after which the secondary nodes transmit impulses further, affecting the ventricles.
Why is my heart rate disturbed?
Most often the cause of tachycardia is diseases that affect the work of the main organ of the human body, but they are not limited to them. It is customary to distinguish two groups of factors: inside the heart and outside the organ. Combines their ability to disrupt the performance of pacemakers. If the reason is outheart, the sinus node is the first to call to it, producing too many impulses. Most often, this state is fixed on the background:
- pathologies of the endocrine system;
- overabundance of cardiac glycosides;
- disturbances in the functionality of the nervous system;
- decrease in blood volume.
Tachycardia is a frequent companion of hypothalamic syndrome, goiter and pheochromocytoma. A rapid heartbeat can be provoked by an excess of caffeine, anesthetics, a number of specific substances of the psychotropic group. Dehydration or sudden sudden blood loss can cause a violation of the rhythm of the heartbeat. Another possible cause is an infectious disease.
If one of these causes is identified, sinus tachycardia is diagnosed.
Internal factors
The second type of tachycardia is provoked by disorders of the heart muscle. Can provoke an increase in the rhythm:
- heart disease;
- myocarditis;
- atherosclerosis, which significantly worsened the quality of the circulatory system;
- myocardial scarring;
- abnormal conduction of impulses.
With these phenomena, they speak of incorrect work of the second-level pacemakers.
Besides pacemakers, the cause of the pathological condition may be in other elements inside the heart. This allows us to talk about supraventricular, ventricular tachycardia. With ventricular more often, loss of consciousness is observed, a fatal outcome is possible.
In general, tachycardia is a dangerous condition,since an increased heart rate does not allow the organ to be filled with blood qualitatively, which means that the supply of oxygen, the nutrient components of cells, is weakened - this leads to oxygen starvation. In such a situation, not only the heart suffers at the same time, but also other organs and tissues of the body. Tachycardia can cause ischemia, heart attack, angina pectoris.
Diagnosis
To understand whether tachycardia is a concern or the reason for feeling unwell is something else, you should visit a doctor in a timely manner. The diagnosis can be formulated by a cardiologist, therapist. To clarify the patient's condition, they are sent for laboratory and instrumental studies. You will have to pass a general blood test and biochemical, provide urine samples to the laboratory for study. It is recommended to do a coagulogram, to be examined for hormonal activity of the thyroid gland.
To clarify the features of cardiac arrhythmia in tachycardia, it is recommended to do echocardiography, x-ray, electrocardiography, and also undergo a procedure of pacing. Useful information can be obtained from the Holter study and bicycle ergometry.
What to do?
When the doctor at the reception will explain to the patient what it is - tachycardia of the heart, they will definitely focus on the fact that this condition is not a disease, but only indicates the presence of some pathology, a he alth disorder. Tachycardia is actually a symptom, and the fight against it is to identify and eliminate the root cause.
Therapeutic course if tachycardia is confirmedon the ECG, includes a targeted fight with symptoms. A key role is assigned to medicines from the group of beta-blockers, as well as anti-arrhythmia drugs. The dosage is chosen by assessing the strength of the unpleasant symptom, the patient's condition, comorbidities, age, tolerance of different types of drugs. Often, a combination with sedatives achieves an increase in efficiency.
If sinus tachycardia is diagnosed, the doctor may recommend catheter destruction to normalize the sinus node.
Attention to all aspects
Explaining to the patient what it is - tachycardia of the heart, where the problem came from and how to deal with it, the doctor will definitely pay attention to the need to adjust the lifestyle. Without this, the problem cannot be eliminated. With an increased heart rate, you need to regularly rest and give yourself adequate time to sleep, walk in parks, forests, and quiet places. Any stressful situations should be carefully avoided, remember that excessive physical activity can cause an exacerbation of the symptom, but light exercises will be beneficial, improve he alth, and stabilize the heart muscle.
Of course, you will have to completely give up any bad habits. Tachycardia is not combined with alcohol or smoking. Harmful substances entering the body can provoke another attack.
Another important aspect is the right diet. Help with tachycardia to oneself - exclusion from the diet of heavy meals, caffeine. Have togive up chocolate. Instead, you should consume more fruits, vegetables, drink plenty of pure water without additives. Vitamin complexes will benefit, however, you should first consult a doctor. Particularly good results are shown by compounds rich in potassium, magnesium.
Prevention is the best cure
In order not to have to figure out how to treat tachycardia, it makes sense to eliminate any detected pathologies as early as possible. If there is a suspicion of infection, inflammation, disruption of the endocrine system, you should visit a doctor to clarify the condition and select the optimal program. It is wise to completely eliminate bad habits from your life and switch to a he althy diet - this significantly reduces the likelihood of any heart disorders. Another important aspect is the organization of everyday life in such a way as to minimize stress, evenly distribute the load, and take regular rest.
People involved in sports rarely learn how tachycardia manifests itself. Physical activity should be moderate, regular, taking into account the state of the body. Experts recommend getting a heart rate monitor and using it during workouts. If the heart rate becomes too high, the device will immediately draw attention to it.
Pathological tachycardia: features
According to the ICD, the tachycardia code is I47. These symbols encode a state when, at rest or with a slight stress load, the heart rate increases sharply; the duration of the attack is a quarter of an hour or more. It is with these symptoms thatsuspect that it's time to visit the doctor.
It is known that pathological tachycardia often accompanies:
- pericarditis;
- endocarditis;
- cardiosclerosis;
- failure of the heart.
In addition, tachycardia is possible with anemia, hypertensive crisis and hypoglycemia, if a person has diabetes. A significant increase in heart rate is observed against the background of increased activity of the thyroid gland, COPD, asthma.
You should not figure out on your own how to treat tachycardia at home - with such a symptom, you should immediately go to the doctor to understand what the root cause is.
Attack: what to look out for?
A seizure is one of the typical symptoms of tachycardia. What to do?. It is this thought that is spinning in the head of a person who feels fright and panic. At the same time, it is usually completely impossible to formulate for what reason such a state arose. The attack comes suddenly, accompanied by a premonition of imminent death. The patient weakens, shortness of breath develops, sleep is disturbed, the limbs become cold, and it is almost impossible to warm them. The duration of such a state in some is a few minutes, after which the condition gradually normalizes on its own, but in severe cases, the duration stretches for many hours and even days. It must be understood: tachycardia is dangerous for a person in any format, no matter how long the attack is.
Long, frequent attacks can cause ischemia, but this is far from the only complicationdangerous to human life. Against the background of a rapid heart rate, swelling of the respiratory organs and thromboembolism of the lungs, arteries that feed the brain are possible. Tachycardia can cause cardiac asthma and cause arrhythmic shock.
The described complications, accompanying ventricular tachycardia, are highly likely to provoke a fatal outcome. Expectant mothers should be especially careful: tachycardia during pregnancy occurs quite often, but the list of drugs applicable in this condition is extremely limited.
Drugs and Therapy
The main task of the doctor is to determine the reason for the development of tachycardia, to eliminate the primary source of the problem. At the same time, the patient is prescribed drugs to alleviate the condition. All known modern remedies designed to normalize the frequency and speed of the pulse have side effects, so it is important to detect the cause in time and proceed directly to its treatment. Prolonged therapy with only symptoms not only does not give a good result, but also creates additional risks for the patient.
When telling a patient what medications for tachycardia can be taken, first of all, doctors usually pay attention to rather weak, but relatively safe formulations made from plant extracts. Medications based on:
- hawthorn;
- peony;
- motherwort;
- valerian rhizomes.
Good results show "Novopassit", "Persen". The classic approach is to useCorvalola.
All of the above medicines help to somewhat reduce excitability, normalize sleep. The combination of herbal remedies and treatment of the root cause of the heart rhythm disorder allows you to quickly achieve a pronounced effect.
Continuing the theme
It also happens that weak sedatives do not show results, and doctors fail to determine the root cause of tachycardia. This requires the use of antiarrhythmic drugs to alleviate the patient's condition. Often used:
- Bisoprolol;
- Verapamil;
- Rhythmilen.
The medicines Anaprilin, Atenolol, Etatsizin have a good reputation. Focusing on the patient's condition, comorbidities, doctors may recommend taking Adenosine, Kordaron, Diltiazem.
As you can see from the listing, the list is quite large, but it is strongly not recommended to choose a remedy at your own discretion among all this variety. There is a high probability of side effects, deterioration of the patient's condition. In practice, doctors most often prescribe drugs from the category of adrenoreceptor inhibitors, calcium antagonists. If drug therapy does not give a pronounced result, the patient is advised to sign up for surgery. At the same time, a special device is installed that is responsible for the rhythm of the contraction of the heart muscle.
There was a seizure: what to do?
The most intense fear is the first occurring tachycardia attack, butrepetition of such situations also provoke such an emotion, albeit not so pronounced. The consequences of an attack largely depend on the timely assistance provided. If a person feels an increase in heart rate, you should seek help. From the side, you can notice ill he alth by the pallor of the skin. Having established that the possible cause is a tachycardia attack, you should promptly call an ambulance or call a local doctor if there is such a specialist in the building.
The people around should try to calm the patient, realizing that the person at this moment is very afraid of death. If there is a tie or belt among the clothes, you should unfasten, loosen any restrictive, tight clothing. The top buttons on the shirt are unbuttoned. If the patient is indoors, open windows to provide fresh, cool air.
Even before the doctor arrives, first aid should be given - give valerian, Corvalol or another effective sedative to drink. On the forehead, you can put a napkin soaked in cold water. To make the patient feel better, you need to hold your breath, tighten your abdominals, then relax. Even if a person refuses hospitalization, one should insist on it. After an attack, it is important to sign up for a full examination at the clinic as soon as possible.
Important to know
In some publications you can find the following advice: in case of an attack of tachycardia, you need to press on the eyeballs, cough. In fact, such assistance is extremely controversial: the procedure can show a positive effect in the sinus form of the pathology, but in ventricularwill worsen the situation. It is better not to risk and not apply the method.
Interesting position
Quite often there is tachycardia during pregnancy. All the reasons for this condition are not known to doctors to this day. It is believed that changes in hormonal levels, a sharp increase in weight and iron deficiency in the blood play a role. Increased metabolism, low blood pressure, and water and electrolyte imbalances can affect the heart rate. Of course, the reason may be in the pathology that the expectant mother is sick with. Medicine even knows such cases when the growth of the uterus provoked a displacement of the heart.
The particular difficulty of tachycardia in pregnant women is the limited methods for stopping unpleasant symptoms. If you are worried about seizures, you need to go to the doctor. Doctors will recommend which formulations should be used. As a rule, these are natural sedatives created on herbal ingredients. You should also give up coffee completely, instead drink chamomile, mint tea.
About predictions
In general, tachycardia will not be a serious threat to life if the patient has been examined and carefully follows medical recommendations. Modern drugs help to adjust the heart rate in a variety of cases. True, you will have to change your lifestyle - without this you should not count on a long-term effect of therapy.
The prognosis is somewhat worse if tachycardia develops against a background of severe pathology. It concernsinsufficiency of the heart muscle, heart attack in the acute stage and other similar diseases that are dangerous to humans.
But carelessness and neglect of one's he alth can cause severe negative consequences for the body. Lack of adequate treatment provokes complications, sooner or later leads to death. Do not try to cope with the symptoms of heart disease on your own - this can lead to serious consequences.
Summing up
Tachycardia is a pathological condition provoked by various diseases, in which the heart rate increases significantly. Tachycardia can provoke various complications, including death. The modern medical approach is the treatment of the root cause that caused the cardiac dysfunction, and only the secondary course is symptomatic therapy.
