Heart Health Atlanta
As people seek healthier lifestyles, heart health has become an increasingly important topic. The heart is one of the most important muscles in our body. To keep your heart healthy moderate physical activity and a healthy diet is encouraged. Factors that lead to heart disease are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, excessive stress, inactivity, smoking, and excessive drinking. Making life style changes in these areas can greatly reduce one’s risks of heart disease.
Why? Well the heart works like a pump, and is divided into four chambers : two atria at the top of the heart and two ventricles at the bottom. The heart beats (contracts) when an electrical impulse from our heart’s “natural pacemaker”, the sinoatrial, moves through it. But what happens if there is a glitch in the heart’s complicated “wiring” system causing it to “misfire”? The result can be an abnormal heart rhythm; officially this is called an arrhythmia.
In general the term arrhythmia refers to any deviation or disturbance from the heart’s normal sequences, which then cause abnormal heart rhythms. This can cause the heart to pump less effectively; but an arrhythmia is not always a cause for concern because an arrythmia can occur in a healthy heart and be of minimal consequence. However, arrhythmias may indicate a serious problem and lead to heart disease, stroke or sudden cardiac arrest. The consequence of an arrhythmia depends primarily on the structural condition of the heart and the presence of heart disease.
Most heart rhythm disturbances are fleeting and are nothing to worry about. For example, during times of fear or excitement it is normal for you to feel your heart “skip” a beat. Exercise can also speed up your heart rate as can too much caffeine and certain medications. When an arrhythmia becomes dangerous is when it is frequent or chronic. The consequences of arrhythmias usually depend not only on symptoms they can cause like faintness or dizziness, but also on the presence of important abnormal structural conditions of the heart and/or heart disease.
Arrythmia can occur in either the ventricle or atrial chambers. Atrial fibrilation is when beats rapidly causing symptoms like chest discomfort, shortness of breath, palpitations, rapid heart beat,and dizziness. The other type of arrythmia is Ventricular fibrillation and this type usually occurs in people who have a damaged heart, such as those who have had a heart attack. Because ventricular fibrillation is so rapid and is occurring in a damaged heart, the heart may not function properly or efficiently and this arrhythmia can be fatal or at least very serious.
Besides lifestyle changes medication can also help with these abnormal heart rhythms. Medications called beta blockers or drugs to reduce the risk of blood clots in patients as well as pacemakers to monitor and regulate the rhythm of the heart may also be used.
Since it is difficult for the average person to know if their arrhythmia is dangerous cardiology specialists called electrophysiologists use the most advanced technology to detect, diagnose and treat arrhythmias. Arrhythmias that cannot be treated and controlled by medication, or by pacemakers can often be completely cured through a minimally invasive procedure called cardiac ablation.
