Heart arrhythmia is a fairly common disease. Among all medical problems with the heart, it occupies 15% of the total. According to statistics, more than two million people suffer from this disease in Russia. And this number is constantly increasing. At the moment, arrhythmia has crossed the age threshold and is increasingly being diagnosed in young and middle-aged people.
What is the danger of this disease? What types of arrhythmia are there? Is it possible to cure arrhythmia? Let's consider all these questions. After all, the most important thing is to notice the symptoms in time and consult a doctor. Then the chance to live a long and he althy life will increase significantly.
What is an arrhythmia?
Before you start considering the treatment of arrhythmias, types of arrhythmias, the main symptoms, you need to figure out what it is.
Arrhythmia is the general name for all diseases accompanied by a violation of the heart rhythm. They may differ in clinical presentation, causes of impairment, and prognosis. At a normal heart rate, the atria and ventricles of the heart contract 60-80 times per minute, while the intervals between contractions should bethe same. With arrhythmias, the heart begins to beat unevenly, depending on the frequency of these contractions, different types of arrhythmias are distinguished.
Varieties of arrhythmia
The type of arrhythmia is affected by the speed and frequency of heart contractions. The organ may beat rapidly or too slowly. Also, parts of the heart may contract prematurely or unevenly. It is customary to distinguish the following types of cardiac arrhythmia: tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, extrasystole, bradycardia and heart block.
Atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of cardiac arrhythmias in cardiology. Its symptoms are characterized by irregular heartbeats, similar to flickering. The ventricles go out of rhythm. Atrial fibrillation is often a symptom of heart disease. It is often referred to as atrial fibrillation by specialists. It is a pathological disturbance in the heart rhythm. In this case, there is no heart beat system.
Types of cardiac arrhythmia on the ECG (atrial fibrillation):
- Atrial flutter. Electrocardiogram shows large atrial waves.
- Atrial fibrillation. Reflected as small atrial waves.
- Ventricular fibrillation. Deformed disordered complexes are traced on the ECG.
Depending on the prognosis, 2 types of atrial fibrillation are distinguished:
- A paroxysmal form. Uneven heartbeats continue for more than two days. In this casemedical intervention required.
- A chronic form. The rhythm of the heart continues to go astray for more than two weeks. With such an arrhythmia, urgent help from a cardiologist is needed.
Tachycardia
This is an arrhythmia in which the heart rate "goes off scale" for 90 times per minute. Tachycardia cannot be called a disease, it is rather a symptom of diseases. There are two types of tachycardia: pathological and physiological. The first is characterized by pathological disorders in the cardiovascular system, which can lead to heart palpitations. With this type of arrhythmia, there is a significant increase in the number of heart contractions, but the patient does not observe pathological changes in the organ.
Tachycardia classification:
- Sine. With this violation of the heart rhythm, there are difficulties with conducting impulses from the sinus node to the ventricles.
- Paroxysmal. In a person suffering from such tachycardia, the number of heart beats sharply increases - up to 150-250 per minute. However, all this passes quickly.
- Ventricular fibrillation. With this type of cardiac arrhythmia, the ventricles contract at an uneven rate.
Heart Blocks
This is the name of an arrhythmia that occurs due to obstruction of impulses through the heart muscle. Most often, blockades provoke serious diseases, such as ischemia, angina pectoris, heart attack, and so on.
Blockades are divided into:
- transient, or transient;
- intermittent, or frequently occurring andpassing during the ECG.
Depending on the degree of flow, they are distinguished:
- acute form (sharp blockade);
- chronic (permanent disturbances in impulse conduction);
- paroxysmal (attacks are replaced by periods of normal work).
Bradycardia
Differs from other types of arrhythmia by a small number of heartbeats. In some cases, this figure may be less than 60 beats per minute. Often this type of tachycardia occurs in cardiac pathology. But it may be the norm for professional athletes, this is due to their physical development. If the heart rate is less than 40, heart failure may develop.
It is divided into the following types of major arrhythmias:
- Absolute bradycardia accompanies a person constantly. The doctor can diagnose her during the examination at any time.
- Moderate bradycardia is typical for people suffering from respiratory arrhythmias. Heart rate changes as you inhale and exhale.
- Extracardiac bradycardia accompanies diseases of the internal organs, characteristic of neuralgia.
- Relative bradycardia accompanies infectious diseases, fever, injury and physical overwork. Against this background, the heart rate changes.
Extrasystole
This type of arrhythmia is characterized by extraordinary sharp contractions of the heart. Such changes begin, as a rule, from the ventricles or atria. This arrhythmia is different in that almost allpeople have felt it at least once, even those who have absolutely he althy hearts. Most often, the following types of extrasystoles are distinguished:
- Supraventricular extrasystole. In this case, rhythm disturbance occurs in the atria. This causes unplanned heartbeats.
- Ventricular extrasystole. Violations occur in the conduction system of the ventricles of the heart. Allocate right ventricular and left ventricular extrasystoles, depending on the degree of localization.
Arrhythmia symptoms
The symptoms of each type of arrhythmia are different. Most often, this is affected by the heart rate, localization, and the degree of neglect of the disease. But there are also general symptoms, types of cardiac arrhythmias that are not affected:
- feeling irregular heart rate;
- a person feels and notices a heartbeat;
- heart beats faster or weaker than usual;
- there may be fading in the work of the heart;
- possible suffocation, fainting, darkening of the eyes;
- sudden tremors of the heart.
In addition, the types of arrhythmia affect the signs. The main symptoms of the disease depending on the type:
- Tachycardia. In the early stages of heart disease, symptoms may not be noticeable. Later, there is heaviness in the region of the heart, pain, strong heartbeat. As the disease progresses, shortness of breath, dizziness and unexplained fatigue are added to this. Since tachycardia is a symptom of heart disease, as the underlying disease progresses, its signs willintensify.
- The symptoms of atrial fibrillation are tied to its type. As a rule, atrial fibrillation begins paroxysmal. Then, after 3-4 attacks, this form develops into a chronic one and begins to be accompanied by constant shortness of breath, palpitations, headache, which are aggravated by physical exertion or other adverse physiological factors.
- The symptoms of bradycardia at the initial stage do not manifest themselves in any way, there are no circulatory disorders. With this type of cardiac arrhythmia, treatment can be medication. When the heart rate drops to 40 beats per minute, signs of fatigue, dizziness, darkening of the eyes, clouding of the mind, ringing in the ears begin to appear. Fainting and sluggish depressed states are possible. At the same time, blood pressure often decreases, body temperature may drop, and complete apathy sets in.
- Symptoms of heart block depend on the stage of the disease. At the initial stages, they may not appear at all. Later, they can be displayed in the patient in the form of chest pain, panic attacks, fatigue and cold viscous sweating, it comes to nausea and vomiting. Symptoms may be similar to those of heart failure. And the ECG shows signs of myocardial infarction.
- Extrasystole. Symptoms of this disease most often manifest as sharp tremors in the region of the heart, then fading of the organ may follow. All this may be accompanied by weakness, fever and sweating, anxiety, lack of air. In the future, extrasystole can lead to circulatory disorders and, asconsequently, reduced blood supply to the brain and other organs.
Causes of illness
Arrhythmia types, symptoms and treatment are largely influenced by causes. Often, before prescribing treatment, a cardiologist analyzes the risks provoked by the lifestyle and environment of the sick person.
Provoking factors:
- Bad habits. Despite how many articles and TV shows warn about the dangers of drinking alcohol, smoking, and, moreover, drugs, there are still people who do not want to give up addictions. All this provokes the development of heart disease, and they, in turn, are the cause of arrhythmias.
- Caffeine can safely be put in second place. Whether it's coffee or energy drinks, excessive consumption of these foods can lead to cardiovascular damage and arrhythmias.
- Stressful situations, depressions and depressed states disturb the work of the heart no worse than alcohol. Therefore, the main recommendation is to increase stress resistance, and in advanced cases, consult a psychologist and, possibly, select the right medicines.
- Metabolic disorders or menopause. It is difficult to control, so in this case, you just need to seek help from a doctor in a timely manner and undergo regular examinations.
- Excessive exercise. Especially often professional athletes and those who are just starting to play sports with excessive zeal suffer from this problem.
- Diseasesthyroid gland. They can also disrupt the work of the heart and lead to arrhythmias. Timely treatment by an endocrinologist can reduce the symptoms of arrhythmia and prevent heart disease.
- Infections, parasites and fungi. These uninvited inhabitants of the human body can bring not only a lot of inconvenience to the owner, but also make serious changes in the functioning of the heart.
- Hypertension. The heart is inextricably linked with blood formation. Therefore, the timely intake of drugs that regulate blood pressure significantly reduces the risk of developing arrhythmias.
- Diseases of the brain. Not only the work of the heart affects the brain, but vice versa. Diseases of this organ have an extremely negative impact on the work of the heart.
Each of these factors can cause serious heart disease. Namely, they are the main causes of arrhythmias.
Other serious causes of the disease:
- Severe injuries, heart surgery can provoke an arrhythmia if conductive structures were damaged in the process.
- Myocarditis caused by problems with the electrical stability of the heart.
- Defects of a hereditary nature and provoked by increased physical activity.
- Ischemic disease caused by abnormalities in the structure of the myocardium.
Arrhythmias and treatments
When diagnosing a disease, the doctor analyzes the causes of arrhythmia, makes a diagnosis and prescribes treatment later. First of all, it is necessary to determine the underlying heart disease and treat it. In the initial stages of the disease are often prescribedgroup drugs:
- calcium, sodium or potassium channel blockers;
- beta blockers.
Let's take a closer look at them:
- Sodium channel blockers can improve the conduction of impulses, and, as a result, adjust the heart rate.
- Potassium channel blockers are generally used in people at high risk for ventricular fibrillation.
- Beta blockers. These drugs have shown to be particularly effective against arrhythmias caused by damage to the central nervous system.
In the event that arrhythmias are caused by taking any drugs, the cardiologist can either reduce the dosage of the previously prescribed medication or cancel it altogether.
Arrhythmia prevention
For people prone to heart disease, there are a few simple preventive measures to follow:
- Continuous monitoring of blood pressure and sugar in the presence of diabetes or hypertension. These diseases are extremely detrimental to the cardiovascular system.
- Regular exercise such as morning exercises.
- Hardening. It is shown only after consultation with the attending physician. In addition, you need to harden gradually.
- Quit smoking and alcohol whenever possible, or consume in moderation.
- Maintaining normal weight and normalizing nutrition. Excess weight causes heart disease and vascular damage.
When it occursThe first signs of arrhythmia should immediately contact a cardiologist. Self-medication is unacceptable, it can lead not only to serious complications, but also to death. It is important not to delay treatment, even if symptoms are mild or absent. It also reduces the risk of heart disease by regular diagnostics, for example, medical examinations, which are provided to Russian citizens every three years.
