What is arrhythmia, what causes heart rhythm problems, what are the symptoms and what treatments are available?

Arrhythmias or heart rhythm problems are experienced by more than 2 million people a year in the UK.

Here's all the vital info you need to know about.

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What is arrhythmia?

Simply it is when the heart beats with an irregular or abnormal rhythm.

This could be too fast or too slow or just irregularly.

Arrhythmias occur when the electrical signals to the heart that coordinate heartbeats are not working properly. For instance, some people experience irregular heartbeats, which may feel like a racing heart or fluttering.

Many heart arrhythmias are harmless; however, if they are particularly abnormal, or result from a weak or damaged heart, arrhythmias can cause serious and even potentially fatal symptoms.

What causes the problem?

For a person with a healthy heart, they should have a heart rate of between 60-100 beats per minute when resting.

The more fit a person is, the lower their resting heart rate.

Olympic athletes, for example, will usually have a resting heart rate of under 60 beats per minute because their hearts are very efficient.

Numerous factors can cause the heart to work incorrectly:

• alcohol abuse
• diabetes
• drug abuse
• excessive coffee consumption
• heart disease like congestive heart failure
• hypertension (high blood pressure)
• hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid gland)
• mental stress
• scarring of the heart, often the result of a heart attack
• smoking
• some dietary supplements
• some herbal treatments
• some medications
• structural changes of the heart
  

  

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What are the different types and what are the signs to look out for?

Tachycardia is when the heart beats quicker than normal; symptoms include:

• breathlessness (dyspnea)
• dizziness
• syncope (fainting, or nearly fainting)
• fluttering in the chest
• chest pain
• lightheadedness
• sudden weakness

Bradycardia is when the heart beats slower than normal; symptoms include:

• angina (chest pain)
• trouble concentrating
• confusion
• difficulties when exercising
• dizziness
• fatigue
• lightheadedness
• palpitations
• shortness of breath
• syncope (fainting or nearly fainting)
• diaphoresis, or sweating

Atrial fibrillation is when the upper chambers of the heart beat in an irregular pattern and out of synch with the lower chambers.

Symptoms often develop rapidly, although sometimes, there are no symptoms:

• angina (chest pain)
• breathlessness (dyspnea)
• dizziness
• palpitations
• syncope (fainting, or nearly fainting)
• weakness