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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Regulate Irregular Heartbeat Without Medications! Heart arrhythmias occurs when the electrical impulses in the heart that coordinates the heartbeats do not work properly, causing the heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly. While arrhythmias often do not show any signs or symptoms, some noticeable symptoms might include a fluttering in the chest, a racing heartbeat, chest pain, dizziness, and shortness of breath. There are many things that could lead to an arrhythmia, for instance, a heart attack that is coming right now, high blood pressure, obstructive sleep apnea, stress, drinking too much alcohol or caffeine, diabetes, or blocked arteries in the heart. Arrhythmias can be classified by where they originate (atria or ventricles) as well as by the speed of heart rate they cause. Among various types of arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter are fairly common among older people, mostly due to wear and tear on the heart. Ventricular fibrillation (VF), however, is one type of arrhythmia that can be deadly. Most cases of VT are linked to some form of heart disease and it is frequently triggered by a heart attack. A person with VF will simply collapse and lose consciousness within seconds. Immediate medical assistance like chest compressions, defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can increase the chances of survival; otherwise death could result in minutes.
Medical treatments including medications can often control or eliminate irregular heartbeats, especially with the help of heart-healthy lifestyle. Patients with atrial fibrillation are usually given anti-arrhythmic medication to help them maintain a normal heart rhythm or ensure that the heart rate is not too fast if the rhythm remains irregular. Furthermore, patients are usually given drugs, including aspirin or anti-coagulants such as warfarin, to help them prevent from getting a stroke. Warfarin is more effective than other drugs since it cuts the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation by about 60 to 80 percent compared with no drug at all. But it also raises the risk of bleeding for patients who take them when their blood becomes too thin. That is why patients with warfarin are required to go for frequent blood tests and doctors need to adjust the dosage accordingly. For patients who cannot tolerate, or do not want to take medications, or medications cannot control their symptoms to regulate their severe irregular heartbeat, there is an improved minimally invasive procedure that can help them control heart rhythm and rate. Such procedure, called catheter ablation, could spare these patients from taking a lifetime of medication. Catheter ablation, also known as cardiac ablation or cardiac catheter ablation, is an invasive procedure used to remove a faulty electrical pathway from the hearts of those who are prone to developing heart arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. It is estimated that about 20 to 30 percent of patients with significant symptoms of atrial fibrillation would benefit from it. During the procedure, a series of catheters (thin, flexible wires) are put into a blood vessel in the arm, groin (upper thigh), or neck. The wires are guided into the heart through the blood vessel. A special machine then transmits energy to the heart through one of the catheters. The energy destroys small areas of heart tissue where abnormal heartbeats might cause an arrhythmia to start. Catheter ablation often involves radiofrequency energy, which utilizes radio waves to produce heat that destroys the heart tissue. RF energy has been shown by studies to work well and is safe. For patients who have atrial fibrillation that is intermittent, the procedure has an 80 to 90 percent success rate, as compared to 40 to 50 percent success rate of medication to regulate heart rhythm. Nevertheless, atrial fibrillation could recur in 10 to 20 percent of patients with intermittent atrial fibrillation and 30 to 40 percent of patients with constant atrial fibrillation or with other kinds of heart disease like heart failure. These patients would require another procedure to burn away the heart tissue that causes it. Sometimes, certain patients might even need implementation of a pacemaker to achieve adequate rate control.
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