Heart skips beats - what does it mean? Let's figure it out in this article.
The heart is the perpetual motion machine of the body, and how the human body as a whole will feel depends on its functioning. In the event that everything is fine and the heart rate is constant, the internal systems with organs will remain he althy for many years. But sometimes it happens, as if the heart beats intermittently, skipping beats. Usually this happens against the background of various disorders of the nervous system. Next, let's talk about the causes and symptoms of this pathological condition, and in addition, find out what cardiologists advise such patients.
So, what is it called when the heart skips a beat?
Description of pathology
In the event that a person often has a feeling that the heart beats intermittently or other unusual sensations are observed in the chest, you need to see a doctor, as it is necessary to establish the causesuch a symptom. It is possible that such sensations are associated with extrasystole, it is also possible that other disorders, for example, arrhythmias, along with serious heart disease, anxiety, anemia or infections, can also cause them.
If the heart skips beats, is it dangerous?
Structure of the heart
The human heart consists of four chambers, namely two upper atria and a pair of lower ventricles. The rhythm of the heart is usually controlled by the atrial sinus node, which is located in the right atrium. It acts as a source of the physiological rhythm of the heart, from which there are branches to the ventricular node. Extrasystole is a premature contraction of the whole heart or its individual parts.
The expression "heart skipped a beat" scares many people.
Such contractions tend to precede the next heartbeat, often disrupting the normal rhythm of the heart rhythm with the order of blood flow. As a result, these unsynchronized out-of-order contractions reduce the efficiency of blood circulation throughout the body.
The reasons why the heart skips beats are not always clear. Electrical instability of the heart departments can be caused by the influence of some external factors, some diseases or changes in the body. Heart failure along with scarring on this organ can cause electrical impulses to fail.
Not everyone understands why the heart skips beats.
Provoking factors
Such an omission may be due to the following factors:
- A chemical change or imbalance in the body.
- Effects of certain medications, including traditional asthma medications.
- Exposure to alcohol or drugs.
- Elevated adrenaline levels due to excessive caffeine consumption or increased anxiety.
- Damage to the heart muscle as a result of ischemic heart disease, congenital organ defects, high blood pressure, or infections.
The risks of developing this problem increase the harmful factors in the form of caffeine, alcohol, tobacco and nicotine, excessive physical activity, high blood pressure and anxiety.
What is it like when the heart skips a beat?
Extrasystole
Extrasystole indicates a high risk of developing disturbances in the heart rhythm. In rare situations, when it is accompanied by pathologies of the heart, premature frequent contractions can lead to the development of a dangerous fatal complication in the form of fibrillation, when a chaotic ineffective contraction of the organ is observed.
Therefore, it is extremely important to diagnose a pathology such as extrasystole, it is required to determine its causes and treat the underlying disease that causes such a violation.
The heart muscle skips beats: the causes of the violation
The appearance of arrhythmias or rhythm disturbances, when the heart begins to skip beats, can be facilitated by various structural changes in the conductionsystems as a result of cardiac pathologies. It is not excluded the negative impact of vegetative, endocrine and electrolyte factors that are associated with intoxication and drug exposure. The main causes of heart rhythm disturbances are associated with the following prerequisites:
- Presence of heart lesions in the form of coronary disease, malformations of this organ, congenital defects and injuries. Some drugs that are used during the treatment of cardiac pathologies may also have an effect.
- Bad habits in the form of smoking, drug addiction and alcoholism, as well as stress, abuse of coffee or products containing caffeine. Very often the heart skips beats after drinking.
- Violation of the lifestyle, when regular stressful situations take place along with insufficient sleep.
- Using certain drugs.
- Diseases of various organs of the human body and systems.
- Electrolyte disturbances, when there are significant changes in the ratio of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium levels within the extracellular space.
In addition to the above, the heart skips beats due to long-term use of diuretics, and also due to diseases whose main characteristic is the difficulty in absorption of electrolytes.
What other reasons could lead to this feeling?
Not every pathology can disrupt the well-functioning work of the heart. heart canfight intermittently mainly due to chronic effects on the body, since it is quite difficult for viruses or bacteria to disrupt the nervous innervation. This can be provoked by the following factors:
- Human myocardial infarction.
- The appearance of disorders in the work of the endocrine glands, for example, a malfunction of the pituitary gland, adrenal glands, thyroid and parathyroid glands and the hypothalamus.
- The presence of central paralysis, paresis, decompensation of the nervous system and the like.
- The occurrence of constant stressful situations.
- Uncontrolled intake of narcotic compounds in the form of cannabis, cocaine, heroin, spice and so on.
- The impact of menopause in women.
- Occurrence of anomalies of intrauterine development in the form of Fallot's disease, heart defects and the like.
- Excessive human consumption of food along with the presence of obesity in the patient.
- Presence of inflammatory processes of the heart in the form of endocarditis, pericarditis, myocarditis and so on.
- The emergence of chemical poisoning.
- Increased pressure, i.e. hypertension.
Next, find out what symptoms can be observed in the presence of such a deviation in the work of the heart.
Symptomatology of violation
Symptomatics outwardly can be completely absent. And this is quite normal for this disease. In some situations, the symptoms of this disease can be interruptions in the work of the body along with sensations of a strong heartbeat, dizziness and fainting. People,who suffer from cardiac arrhythmias report the following symptoms:
- Presence of rapid and strong heart beats.
- Loss of another heartbeat.
- Presence of interruptions in the activity of the heart.
- The presence of dizziness and fainting, which occurs due to insufficient oxygen supply to the brain tissues.
- The appearance of pain in the heart or in the area of its location.
- Occurrence of shortness of breath.
Heart seems to miss a beat: diagnosing a disorder
Diagnostics with this symptom, as a rule, is directed to the performance of various additional examinations. The main role in this is played by the electrocardiographic study. In addition, this type of disease can be diagnosed using Holter monitoring, which is a type of electrocardiographic study. Such a study makes it possible to provide long-term recording of the heart rhythm when the patient is in natural living conditions for him. Thus, doctors determine the dynamics of changes in the nature of rhythm disturbance in a certain period of time, which is compared with mental, physical and other stresses and situations.
Research methods
When the heart skips beats, pathology can also be diagnosed with the help of a transesophageal electrocardiographic study and through pacing. In addition, this method is widely used in medicine.diagnosing, as an ultrasound examination, which allows you to evaluate not only the functional feature of the heart, but also its structure. Cardiac catheterization, which is an invasive technique by inserting a special catheter, also shows good results.
If the heart skips beats, treatment should be immediate.
Treatment of disorder
Therapy of patients with a clear heart rhythm disturbance depends largely on the type and nature of the disease, as well as on its degree. As a rule, doctors begin by treating the underlying disease that caused this disease. Most types of rhythm disturbances do not require medical treatment and are eliminated by a banal change in lifestyle. For example, a person should give up caffeine in all its manifestations, and in addition, smoking. It is necessary to use alcoholic beverages wisely and completely avoid stressful situations.
Surgery
In the presence of some cardiac arrhythmias, the only method of healing seems to be surgery. This type of treatment is used for severe bradycardia, against the background of a severe degree of AV blockade, and in addition, for sick sinus syndrome. People who suffer from episodes of ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia are implanted with a defibrillator, which only starts working if there are abnormal heart rhythms. In the event that, as a result of research, a pathological focus with excessiveactivity, which is the source of the appearance of cardiac arrhythmias, it is destroyed by surgical intervention using cardiac catheterization.
Heart rhythm problems after binge
The occurrence of arrhythmia after alcohol usually goes away on its own in a few hours, but sometimes this condition can be very dangerous. It is urgent to call an ambulance in the event that a hangover intensifies or the following symptoms appear for the first time:
- Emerging sharp weakness.
- Appearance of pre-fainting or fainting.
- The appearance of a sudden fear of death.
- The occurrence of dizziness and the appearance of pain in the region of the heart.
- Occurrence of shortness of breath.
Alcohol can dissolve equally well in water and fats, scientifically it is called amphiphilicity. At the cellular level, alcohol amphiphilicity allows it to destabilize cell membranes, which are composed of several layers of amphiphilic elements.
What could it be fraught with? The interaction of cells with the outside world, including information, is carried out with the help of changes in the configurations of cell receptors. In the first approximation, cellular receptors can be represented as protein particles immersed in a membrane. The binding of receptors to various substances causes changes in the course of the chemical reaction of the cell, including those that lead to the propagation of electrical excitation waves through the membranes.
And in the event thatthe membrane was destabilized by alcohol or partially destroyed, this will lead to a decrease in receptor sensitivity, and in addition, to the ability of the membrane to conduct electrical excitation.
When the heart skips beats, what to do, it is better to check with the doctor.
Advice from cardiologists
To avoid such a condition when a person's heart begins to skip beats, cardiologists advise to follow certain preventive measures. For example, in order to prevent the occurrence of disturbances in the heart rhythm, it is very important to have time to diagnose and treat diseases of the heart and other organs and systems. It is necessary to reduce the amount of stress by observing the daily routine. Doctors, among other things, advise people to get enough hours of sleep. It is equally important to eat a rational and balanced diet, including giving up alcohol and smoking.
If the heart skips beats, what is it, now we know.
