Do you often feel your heart pumping extra fast or fluttering? Heart palpitations are the reason behind this. It is not okay to have a fast heartbeat in normal cases.
Check out everything you need to know about heart palpitations in this health blog.
What are Palpitations?
Generally, a healthy heartbeat is at a regular rate and rhythm but during palpitations, this rate or rhythm and sometimes both are disturbed, and heart contractions can be felt by a person.
There are numerous causes of palpitations and most of them are not that serious. In rare instances, palpitations can be because of some medical conditions. Although there are palpitations with normal rate and rhythm of heart, they are the least matter of concern from a healthcare point of view.
Frequent and Infrequent Causes of Palpitations:
Although there can be many different reasons for palpitations according to research. however not all are associated with health conditions, normal day-to-day activities like exercise can also trigger harmless palpitations. Often psychological states like stress, anxiety, depression, and panic attacks can also start palpitations.
In some instances, stimulants like tea, coffee, and sports drinks containing caffeine may initiate palpitations as well as cigarettes because they contain nicotine.
Electrolyte imbalance, dehydration along with low levels of sugar are common causes of palpitations. Certain medications sometimes can give a side effect of palpitation e.g., medications having pseudoephedrine, medications for heart rhythm/thyroid, etc.
Hormonal changes during pregnancy and in some glands conditions like thyroid may affect the way our hearts work and cause palpitations. During low levels of blood (Anaemia) our heart may get affected leading to palpitations.
Now we can draw our attention to the most pertinent concern many patients have when they do get palpitations and that is if something is wrong with their heart causing palpitations. As we have seen above that there are many causes of palpitations however rarely it can be something associated with heart conditions.
Firstly, it is very rare in a healthy population to have palpitations because of some heart conditions. Secondly, if it is originating from the heart, oftentimes it is related to some other complaints as well, like dizziness, syncope, shortness of breath, or chest pain.
How to know if I am having Palpitations?
The patient may feel his heart contractions in the chest or throat. You may perceive as if your heart is beating too fast, pounding, skipping beats, or irregular.
How to know if I have palpitations and they are serious?
As we know by now that most of these palpitations are not serious however on rare occasions these can be a matter of concern and needs further investigations to find out the exact cause and the best step forward is to seek medical advice and visit a doctor in person who can take a detailed history with physical examination and do necessary investigations to guide further.
A physical examination will help to find out what sort of rate and rhythm problem is going on and also a doctor can check for signs of any associated medical condition leading to palpitations for example glands swelling like the thyroid gland.
Depending on the patient’s complaints, history, and findings on examination different tests can be done to find out the possible cause of palpitations e.g., ECG, Echocardiography, Holter monitor, etc
Is there a Cure for palpitations?
Again, it will depend on the cause of palpitation therefore it is advisable to seek online consultation and visit a doctor where possible who can evaluate further plan by doing a physical examination and run through the necessary relevant investigations.
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Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only, for your health concerns and questions, please discuss them with your doctor. Thanks.