Heart Rhythm is Slowing Down?

 by Bruce S Parsons

Feeling fatigued? Dizzy sometimes for no apparent reason? Finding it difficult to stay awake or focus without getting lightheaded?

Check your pulse! If it is less than sixty beats per minute, you may be suffering from a slow heart rate, or bradycardia. This can be due to many different factors, some related to heart function, others due to dietary or lifestyle habits. It is important, however, that if you feel faint, or are experiencing lasting chest pains or difficulty in drawing breathe, that you get emergency care at the earliest opportunity.

For some people, a resting heart rate less than sixty beats per minute can be considered normal. Trained athletes and others in peak physical condition frequently have slower resting heart rates than average individuals. It is important to note, though, that they do not exhibit any of the negative side effects normally associated with bradycardia, as their bodies are functioning properly, and sufficient oxygen-rich blood is flowing to necessary organs. Through extensive training, they have shaped their bodies to be stronger, and function properly when resting, even though clinically speaking they have bradycardia.

A heart rate of less than one hundred beats per minute is considered bradycardia in infants. Normally, infants should have a heart rate of between 120 to 160 beats per minute. Researchers are still working to determine the causes; though it is theorized that bradycardia in infants could potentially be caused by yet-underdeveloped centers in the brain that regulate breathing. Also, premature babies are more likely to exhibit bradycardia than those born full-term. In minor cases, rocking the incubator or touching the child lightly is known to remedy the matter. In severe or potentially life-threatening cases, medications containing caffeine or theophylline are used. Premature babies are monitored extensively, and their hearts are no exception.

As we all know, the heart is regulated by electrical impulses. Many factors can modify this, the most common being aging. High blood pressure can also be a reason, or an underactive thyroid gland. Certain congenital defects could be the reason, or an infection of the heart tissue later in life. People who have heart disease or suffered a heart attack could later exhibit bradycardia also. Certain drugs can influence heart rate to a great degree, and if they are abused, severe bradycardia can manifest, resulting in hospitalization in fortunate cases, or death if left untreated.

Summarily, if you have a pain in your chest lasting over a minute, or if you faint or can't seem to catch your breath, call an ambulance immediately. Exercise regularly, eat well, and live life to its fullest!

Ventricular Fibrillation (VF)

by jeanne abayie

Ventricular fibrillation is called V-fib for short. This life threatening condition is the most serious cardiac rhythm disturbance. It is a severe form of arrhythmia. The lower chambers of the heart ( ventricles ) quiver with no useful contractions. Therefore the heart can't pump any blood and this causes cardiac arrest. Ventricular fibrillation needs immediate medical attention.

CAUSES

The heart pumps blood to the lungs, brain and other parts of the body. Interruption of heart beat for a few seconds can lead to fainting or cardiac arrest. Fibrillation is uncontrolled quivering of the heart muscles ( fibrils). When this occurs in the lower chamber of the heart, it is called ventricular fibrillation.

During ventricular fibrillation, the heart's lower chambers contract in a rapid, unsynchronized way. The ventricles flatter and the heart pumps little to no blood. Sudden cardiac death follows.

The cause of this condition is not always known. However the most common cause is a heart attack. VF may occur when the heart muscles don't get enough oxygen. Other conditions that can lead to VF include the following:

• heart injury
• congenital heart defect
• heart surgery
• narrowed coronary arteries
• heart muscle disease
• electrocution accidents

Most people who get ventricular fibrillation have no heart disease history but often have risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes. If you've had VF before, you are more likely to get it again.

SYMPTOMS

Lost of consciousness or collapse are usually the most common signs of ventricular fibrillation. Other symptoms that may be experienced earlier include

• chest pain
• rapid heart beat
• nausea
• shortness of breath
• dizziness

TEST AND DIAGNOSIS

Ventricular fibrillation is usually diagnosed after it happens. It is not likely to be diagnosed during a routine medical exam.

The doctor will monitor your heart beat and check your pulse. The doctor will do additional tests to find out the cause of your V - fib. These include

• Blood test
• Electrocardiogram
• Imaging tests such as chest x-ray, cardiac MRI, CT scan and echocardiogram
• Coronary catheterization (angiogram)
• TREATMENT

Ventricular fibrillation is a medical emergency and immediate treatment is needed to save the person's life. If a person has v fib episode at home, call an emergency number such as 911. While waiting for help, you needs to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to help restore blood flow to the rest of the body. Continue to do CPR until help arrives or person becomes alert.

Defibrillation may also be done to restore the heartbeat to a normal rhythm. This should be done immediately. It delivers quick electric shock to the chest using a defibrillator. This can be done by an emergency personnel or by stander using a public defibrillator. Most public places now have this machine.

Treatment may also be given to prevent future episodes. These include

• medications to control heart beat and function
• Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) may be implanted in the chest for people at risk for VF. It quickly sends an electrical shock when ventricular fibrillation occurs and prevents sudden cardiac death
• coronary angioplasty and stent placement to open blocked coronary arteries and improve blood flow
• ventricular tachycardia ablation to destroy tissue that blocks the electrical signal that travels through your heart to make it beat
• coronary bypass surgery to improve blood supply to the heart

PREVENTION

Adapting healthy lifestyle change can reduce your risk for v fib.

Quit smoking

Stay active

Eat heart healthy diet

Control high blood pressure

Maintain a healthy weight

Manage cholesterol

Atrial septal defect

by Wayne Strickland

An atrial septal defect (ASD) - oftentimes known as hole within the heart - is a kind of congenital heart defect where there's an unnatural opening up within the separating wall between the higher filling chambers in the coronary heart (the atria).

Generally ASDs are identified and dealt with properly with few or absolutely no troubles.

To comprehend this particular defect, it very first really helps to evaluate some fundamentals about the way a proper heart commonly operates.ital

The heart has 4 chambers: The 2 lower pumping chambers are known as the ventricles, and the two upper filling chambers are the atria.

In the healthy heart, bloodstream which returns from your body to the right-sided filling chamber (right atrium) is short of fresh air. This blood moves towards the right-sided pumping chamber (right ventricle), and subsequently to the lungs to get oxygen. The blood that is enriched with much needed oxygen comes back to the left atrium, then to the left ventricle. It is then moved out to the body with the aorta, a big blood vessel which carries the blood to the smaller blood vessels in your body. The right and left filling chambers are usually divided by a thin shared wall, called the atrial septum.

Children with an atrial septal defect come with an opening in the wall (septum) between the atria. Because of this, some oxygen rich blood from the left atrium runs through the hole in the septum into the right atrium, where it combines with oxygen-poor blood and boosts the entire quantity of blood that moves toward the lungs. The elevated blood circulation to your lungs creates a swishing sound, termed as a heart murmur. This heart murmur, together with other specific heart sounds which might be detected by a cardiologist, could be indications that a child has an ASD.

ASDs might be found in various places on the atrial septum, and so they might be various sizes. The signs or symptoms and medical care of the defect is dependent upon those factors. In certain rare cases, ASDs are part of more complicated forms of congenital heart disease. It is not clear why, but ASDs are usually more common in girls than in boys.

Treatment options assuming closure is required:

1) Least invasive 30 minute catheterization procedure is done percutaneously (through the skin). The device is attached to a catheter, which is inserted into a vein in the groin and advanced to the heart and through the defect, guided by X-ray and intracardiac echo. As the device is slowly pushed out of the catheter, it opens up to cover each edge of the defect, sealing it closed. Over time, tissue grows over the implant and it becomes part of the heart. This procedure requires patients to be on blood thinners for approximately six months.

What You Should Know About The Symptoms of Heart Problems

by Larry Johnson

The symptoms of heart diseases can be very varied. However, it is important to be aware of what those symptoms are so that you can get medical help right away. Heart problems, when left untreated, can lead to death. In fact, cardiovascular diseases are some of the leading killers in the world today.

Symptoms of Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are very common today. These start out not as problems in the heart itself but on the blood vessels. When some materials block the blood vessels and makes it hard for the blood to pass through then that can cause the more serious problems. The most usual symptoms of these are chest pain, shortness of breath and numbness of weakness in the parts of the body where the affected blood vessels are located. If you feel any of these symptoms then you should seek medical attention right away. People might not get diagnosed that they have cardiovascular problems until it is too late.

Symptoms of Abnormal Heartbeats

Another common heart ailment is having an abnormal heartbeat. This can be signify a congenital disease, which means that a person has had it since birth. Sometimes this kind of condition is not detected right away and a person can reach adulthood without knowing that he has this kind of disease. Symptoms of this condition would include a fluttering feeling in the chest, very fast heartbeat, pain in the chest, shortness of breath, dizziness and fainting spells. A person who feels these symptoms should see a doctor right away because this condition can be very serious.

Heart Defects

Another type of condition that a person can be born with is having a defective heart. Normally, this condition becomes evident right after the birth of a child because of its physical symptoms. Symptoms include a grayish or bluish color of the skin, swelling on some parts of the body, shortness of breath especially during feeding time. Sometimes, if the heart defect is not too serious, it might not get diagnosed right away until later in life.

Cardiomyopathy

This is the condition where the muscle tissues of the heart thicken. Initially this condition would have no serious symptoms, but as the condition progresses, the person will start to feel the signs. Symptoms would include getting tired easily, shortness of breath, bloating of the abdomen because of fluid, irregular breathing and dizziness.

Heart Infections

Like other parts of the body, the heart is also prone to infections. When it becomes infected, the person will start to feel a whole range of symptoms. Those symptoms could include, fever, shortness of breath, getting tired easily and dry cough that is very persistent.

Like most other diseases, heart problems are a lot easier to treat during the early stages. This is the reason why early detection is very important. The moment you start feeling any of the symptoms, seek medical help right away.

Congenital Heart Disease and Physical Therapy

by Ron Ayalon

Congenital heart diseases refers to the structural (anatomical) or physiological defects in the normal functioning of the heart as a result of birth defects that may be diagnosed soon after birth or may take years to produce full blown cardiac insufficiency. Valvular heart defects form the most common variety of congenital cardiac defect that is associated with high morbidity and mortality in adult years if no management options are employed.

This is because the metabolic demands of the body increase with growth and development that poses more pressure on the heart leading to cardiac failure or circulatory deficits. With overall prevalence of 26.6%, it was suggested that only 12.1% cases can be detected by clinical evaluation. Among the most prevalent congenital cardiac defects, ventricular septal abnormalities comprise 17.3% of all congenital anomalies followed by atrial septal defects (6.0%) and other less common cardiac diseases. The mortality is highest with cyanotic heart diseases.

According to the research statistics reported by Julien I.E Hoffman, over 1 million patients were born with congenital heart defects (during 1940 to 2002). Considering the quality of medical services and surgical/ medical advancements, Hoffman suggested that the total number of survivors with mild heart disease (who may reach well into adulthood) is 750,000 with mild heart disease, 400,000 with moderate heart disease and 180,000 with severe disease (with treatment). Without any management or treatment the survival rate may fall to 400,000 with mild disease, 220,000 with moderate disease, and 30,000 with severe heart disease, suggesting very high mortality.

Congenital heart diseases are also associated with stunted growth and development in children marked by poor weight gain, failure to thrive and frequent hospitalizations while growing up. In addition, these children also develop frequent episodes of shortness of breath, rapid heart rate (also known as tachycardia) and attacks of fatigue associated with decreased exercise endurance.

Physical therapy and mild exercises are helpful in the growth and development of children born with congenital heart disease. It is extremely important not to initiate exercise therapies in these children without seeking the guidance from registered physical therapists who work in coordination with the pediatric cardiologist to deliver best exercise regimens in order to optimize health without overloading the heart. Generally, children and adults can perform moderate static exercises of mild intensity without any complications; however, healthcare providers strongly restrict weight lifting in pediatric aged children and even in adults born with cardiac defects. 

Caution should be maintained to avoid lifting weight of more than 25 pounds in children and more than 50 pounds in adults. Physical therapist and pediatric cardiologist must assess every child individually and advice customized exercises and treatments according to the severity of illness and overall physical health. Treadmill test, bicycling and echocardiography are mainly used as assessment tools as the risk of sudden death increases if vigorous activity is attempted in children born with aortic stenosis, cyanotic heart diseases and coarctation of the aorta.

Hardcore or traditional gym exercises increase cardiac output that may overload the heart and may increase the risk of complications or sudden cardiac death. On the contrary, exercises performed under the guidance of physical therapists serve multiple benefits. Exercise or physical activities are needed in order to build stamina and maintain exercise endurance especially in school going children who engage in physical activities with peers. Physical therapy improves the pace of mental and physical development that allows children to develop healthy social relationships with peers, muscle and motor coordination and mental concordance. 

Physical therapy and periodic assessments are also needed in order to know the physical capacity of child and to track worsening of cardiac defect with age (in order to avoid accidents or unwanted incidents at schools) by restricting excessive physical activity. In some children, healthcare providers delay surgery until the child crosses some developmental milestones; however, it is very important that until then child stays in best possible physical shape to lessen the risk of surgical complications.

According to the scientific peer-reviewed journal- American Family Physician there are 5 stages of physical activity recommendations of Physical Activity in Children with CHD, ranging from no restriction to extreme limitation of physical activity (wheel chair bound).

Without any physical therapy, the progression into the severe disability is fairly high. It is the duty of parents to promote healthy physical activity but make sure to prevent contact sports or vigorous activities that may affect cardiac functioning.