What is arrhythmia?
Cardiac arrhythmia refers to a group of conditions that cause the heart to beat irregular, too slowly, or too quickly.
There are several categories of arrhythmia, including:
- bradycardia, or a slow heartbeat
- tachycardia, or a fast heartbeat
- irregular heartbeat, also known as a flutter or fibrillation
- early heartbeat, or a premature contraction
Normal heart Rhythm vs. Arrhythmia
Your heart has a built-in pacemaker, located in the upper left chamber, or atrium. That natural pacemaker sends electrical signals telling both upper chambers, or atria, when to contract and pump blood into the two lower chambers, or ventricles. There’s a brief pause, allowing the ventricles to fill with blood, then the electrical signals tell the ventricles to contract.
Most of the time, a person with normal heart function has a heart rate of 60-100 beats per minute, in a steady rhythm, thanks to your built-in pacemaker. Of course, when you’re exercising or sleeping, your heart rate may be faster or slower.
When you have arrhythmia, you have a problem either with the number of beats per minute or with your heart’s rhythm. A tachycardia is a fast heart rate, and a bradycardia is a slow heart rate. Arrhythmias are classified as tachycardias or bradycardias, as well as by where they happen in the heart.
When your heart rhythm is off in the atria, it could be because you have:
- Atrial fibrillation
- Atrial flutter
- Supraventricular tachycardia
- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
When your heart rhythm is off in your ventricles, it could be because of:
- Ventricular tachycardia
- Ventricular fibrillation
- Long QT syndrome
Symptoms of arrhythmia
The symptoms you feel depend on the type and location of your arrhythmia. Some common ones include:
- Your heart skipping beats, or palpitations
- A fluttering feeling in your chest
- Feeling like your heart is racing, even if you’re sitting still
- Feeling exceptionally fatigued
- Dizziness, light-headedness, fainting
- Shortness of breath
- Pain or discomfort in your chest
If you’ve had a heart attack in the past, or if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, or some other underlying condition, you’re more likely to develop arrhythmia. Smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and other lifestyle factors can also lead to arrhythmia.