What is tachycardia and why is it dangerous

What is tachycardia

TachycardiaTachycardia / Mayo Clinic - This is a condition when the heart beats more than 100 beats per minute. Sometimes it’s okay. For example, if the person has just been actively involved in sports or is just very excited. But it happens that a rapid heartbeat appears due to illness.

How does the heart contract normally?

Our heart is composedTachycardia / Mayo Clinic from four chambers: a pair of atria and two ventricles located under them. In the right atrium is the sinus node - our own pacemaker. It sends out electrical impulses that cause the heart muscle to contract and push blood.

The electrical signal first travels to the atria and then travels to the atrioventricular node located in the septum between the right atrium and ventricle. This node slows down the impulse so that the chambers of the heart have time to fill with blood. After that, they also shrink. If some part of the conducting system is not working properly, there may be a rapid or slow heartbeat.

Why does tachycardia appear?

Sometimes it occurs due to natural aging or heredity. But more often factors are to blame for tachycardiaTachycardia / Mayo Clinicthat increase stress on the heart or damage its tissues:

• Anemia.
• Diabetes.
• Heart disease: ischemia, valve pathology, previous heart attack.
• Abuse of caffeinated drinks and alcohol.
• High blood pressure.
• Hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism is an increased and decreased function of the thyroid gland, respectively.
• Stress.
• Smoking.
• Sleep apnea. This is a sleep disorder in which breathing is interrupted.
• Drug use.

What is tachycardia

Doctors distinguish several typesTachycardia / Mayo Clinic.

Supraventricular (supraventricular) tachycardia

Increased impulses comeParoxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) / U.S. National Library of Medicine from a node located above the ventricles. This is usually due to an initially malformed conductive system. But due to the factors listed above, tachycardia attacks may recur more often.

Atrial fibrillation

In the atria there areTachycardia / Mayo Clinic chaotic irregular and fast impulses. Because of this, the upper chambers do not have time to fully to relax and are not fully cut, weaker than necessary, and uncoordinated.

Atrial flutter

Unlike atrial fibrillation, in this case, electrical impulses ariseTachycardia / Mayo Clinic not only very quickly, but also with regular frequency. Therefore, the atria contract weakly. Usually, this type of tachycardia develops if the structure of the cardiac conduction system is changed.

Ventricular tachycardia

If the atrioventricular node beginsVentricular Tachycardia / Cleveland Clinic generate a lot of electrical impulses, the ventricles contract rapidly. Because of this, they cannot fill up normally.Tachycardia / Mayo Clinic blood, which disrupts the blood supply to vital organs. Ventricular tachycardia can be fatal.

Ventricular fibrillation

This type of tachycardia is extremely dangerous.Tachycardia / Mayo Clinic for life. Instead of contracting completely, the ventricles simply tremble. Therefore, the blood stops pumping - and a person can die within a few minutes. Typically, this rhythm disturbance occurs in people who have heart disease or have experienced lightning strike.

What are the symptoms of tachycardia

When the heartbeat becomes too fast, blood cannot pump properly and some tissues and organs do not receive the required amount of oxygen. Sometimes there may be no symptoms, but the following usually occurTachycardia / Mayo Clinic:

• Shortness of breath.
• Chest pain.
• Dizziness.
• Fainting.
• The heartbeat is felt like a clapping in the chest, irregular tremors.

What to do when tachycardia appears

If palpitations occur frequently and without logical reasons such as physical exertion or excitement, you should contact a therapist. He will prescribe an examination, and if necessary, refer you to a cardiologist.

The following methods are used to diagnose tachycardia.Tachycardia / Mayo Clinic:

• Electrocardiogram (ECG). The sensors are attached to the chest and record electrical signals from the heart in a curved line. If the shape of its teeth changes or their number increases, the doctor may suggest tachycardia. Sometimes you have to do Holter monitoring when a portable ECG machine is worn during the day.
• Event recorder. In this case, a portable ECG machine is attached to a person's chest for several weeks or months. If he feels a rhythm disturbance, he presses the button to record the data and then show it to the doctor.
• Electrophysiological test. Thin tube catheters run through arteries in the thigh, arms, or neck to the heart. And then investigate how it contracts and how the impulse propagates.
• Visualization. This type of diagnosis includes ultrasound of the heart, CT, MRI, X-ray, which help to examine the organ. Angiography is also used, in which a contrast agent is injected into the vessels and X-rays are taken. This makes it possible to see how the blood enters the heart.
• Stress test. This is the name of the method when a person does physical exercise or is injected with stimulating drugs to determine with the help of an ECG whether tachycardia appears because of this.
• Passive orthostatic test. It helps to find out if the arising fainting with tachycardia. To do this, a person lies down on a special table and takes a medicine that causes a rapid heartbeat. The table is then raised to simulate an upright position, and doctors note how the heart and nervous system have responded to these changes.

What to do with an attack of tachycardia

Sometimes the tachycardia attack goes awayTachycardia / Mayo Clinic myself. If within a few minutes the condition does not normalize, you need to slow down the heartbeat. There are several ways to do this.

Vagus reception

This is a method that helps to restore the rhythm relatively quickly and safely. The method is based on the effect on the vagus nerve, which slows down the heartbeat. You need to push your stomach hard, as if in the toilet, cough, or put an ice pack on your face.

Medicines

If vagal administration does not help, antiarrhythmic pills prescribed by your doctor should be used. In severe cases, these medicines should be used in injections.

Cardioversion

If the two previous methods did not normalize the heartbeat, you need to call an ambulance. The arriving specialists will fix the electrodes from the pacemaker and deliver a shock that should make the heart beat in the correct rhythm. This procedure is called cardioversion.

How is tachycardia treated?

It all comes down to reducing the number of seizures and reducing the risk of complications. Depending on the severity and causes of rhythm disturbance, the doctor will select the most appropriate method.

Medication

The specialist will prescribe antiarrhythmic or heart medications to prevent tachycardia from occurring.

Pacemaker

If a person often develops dangerous forms of tachycardia, an apparatus is sewn under the skin of his chest that controls the heart rate. If it deviates from the norm, the pacemaker immediately sends an electrical signal to restore pulse.

Some people have to implant such a device even in the chest.

Operation

This can be catheter ablation, when an electrode is advanced through an artery in the thigh to the heart. It uses radio frequency pulses to destroy misplaced "wires" so that the electrical impulse goes around.

In some cases, open heart surgery is required to cure tachycardia.

How to reduce the risk of tachycardia

To do this, you need to follow the recommendations that help maintain heart health. Here they areTachycardia / Mayo Clinic:

• Eat right. Eat more vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and less fatty foods.
• Go in for sports.
• Control your weight. Try to keep your body mass index within the normal range.
• Do not smoke.
• Reduce your caffeine intake. Drink no more than one or two cups of coffee a day.
• Do not abuse alcohol. Women are advised to drink no more than 350 ml of beer, 150 ml of wine or 45 ml of high-grade (40%) alcohol per day. And for men - no more than 700, 300 or 90 ml, respectively.
• Don't use drugs.
• Avoid surges in blood pressure and cholesterol levels. If necessary, take medications prescribed by your doctor for this.
• Use over-the-counter medicines with caution. Be sure to study contraindications, as some cold and cough medicines contain substances that can cause tachycardia.
• Manage stress. Try to avoid traumatic situations and stress, and look for suitable ways to overcome them easily.
• Undergo preventive examinations. So the doctor can notice the first deviations in health in time.