Types of arrhythmias, main symptoms and treatment

Arrhythmia of the heart is a fairly common disease. Among all medical problems with the heart, it occupies 15% of the total. According to statistics, in Russia more than two million people suffer from this disease. And this figure is constantly increasing. At the moment, arrhythmia has crossed the age threshold and is increasingly being diagnosed in young and middle-aged people.

What is the danger of this disease? What types of arrhythmias are there? Is it possible to cure arrhythmia? Consider all these issues. After all, the most important thing is to notice the symptoms in time and consult a doctor. Then the chance to live a long and healthy life will increase significantly.

What is arrhythmia?

Before you begin to consider the treatment of arrhythmias, types of arrhythmias, the main symptoms, you need to understand what it is.

Arrhythmia is the common name for all diseases accompanied by heart rhythm disturbance. They may vary in clinical presentation, causes of disturbances and prognosis. At a normal heart rate, the atria and ventricles of the heart contract 60-80 times per minute, while the intervals between contractions should be the same. With arrhythmias, the heart begins to beat unevenly, depending on the frequency of these contractions, different types of arrhythmias are distinguished.

Varieties of Arrhythmia

The type of arrhythmia is affected by the speed and frequency of heart contractions. The organ may beat faster or too slowly. Also, the departments of the heart can contract prematurely or unevenly. It is customary to distinguish the following types of cardiac arrhythmias: tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, extrasystole, bradycardia and heart block.

Atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of heart rhythm disturbance in cardiology. Its symptoms are characterized by uneven heart contractions, similar to flicker. The ventricles go astray. Atrial fibrillation is often a symptom of heart disease. Often, experts call it atrial fibrillation. Represents pathological disorders in the heart rhythm. In this case, there is no heart rate system.

Types of cardiac arrhythmias on ECG (atrial fibrillation):

• Atrial flutter. On the electrocardiogram, large atrial waves are visible.
• Atrial fibrillation. Reflected as small atrial waves.
• Ventricular fibrillation. An ECG shows deformed disordered complexes.

Depending on the prognosis, 2 types of atrial fibrillation are distinguished:

1. A form that is paroxysmal in nature. Uneven heart contractions last more than two days. In this case, medication is required.
2. A form that is chronic. Heart rate continues to go astray for more than two weeks. With this arrhythmia, urgent help is needed by a cardiologist.

Tachycardia

This arrhythmia, in which heart contractions “roll off” at 90 times per minute. Tachycardia cannot be called a disease, it is rather a symptom of diseases. There are two types of tachycardia: pathological and physiological. The first is characterized by pathological disorders in the cardiovascular system, which can lead to heart palpitations. With this type of arrhythmia, a significant increase in the number of contractions of the heart occurs, but the patient does not observe pathological changes in the organ.

Tachycardia classification:

• Sinus With this violation of the heart rhythm, difficulties arise with the conduct of impulses from the sinus node to the ventricles.
• Paroxysmal. A person suffering from such tachycardia sharply increases the number of heart beats - up to 150-250 per minute. However, all this quickly passes.
• Ventricular fibrillation. With this type of cardiac arrhythmia, the ventricles contract with an uneven frequency.

Heart block

This is the name of arrhythmia, which occurs due to impassability of impulses in the heart muscle. Most often, blockades provoke serious diseases, such as ischemia, angina pectoris, heart attack, etc.

Blockades are divided into:

• transient, or transient;
• intermittent, or often occurring and passing during the ECG.

Depending on the degree of flow, there are:

• acute form (sharp blockade);
• chronic (constant impairment in the conduct of impulses);
• paroxysmal (seizures are replaced by periods of normal operation).

Bradycardia

It differs from other types of arrhythmia in a small number of heart contractions. In some cases, this figure may be less than 60 beats per minute. Often this type of tachycardia occurs with cardiac pathology. But it may be the norm in professional athletes, this is due to their physical development. With a frequency of contractions of less than 40, heart failure may develop.

It is divided into the following types of main arrhythmias:

• Absolute bradycardia accompanies a person constantly. The doctor can diagnose her during the examination at any time.
• Moderate bradycardia is characteristic of people suffering from respiratory arrhythmia. The heart rate changes when you inhale and exhale.
• Extracardial bradycardia accompanies diseases of internal organs, characteristic of neuralgia.
• Relative bradycardia accompanies infectious diseases, fever, trauma and physical overwork. Against this background, the heart rate changes.

Extrasystole

For this type of arrhythmia, extraordinary sharp contractions of the heart are characteristic. Such changes begin, usually from the ventricles or atria. This arrhythmia is distinguished by the fact that almost all people at least once felt it, even those whose heart is absolutely healthy. Most often, the following types of extrasystole are distinguished:

• Supraventricular extrasystole. In this case, rhythm disturbance occurs in the atria. This causes unplanned contractions of the heart.
• Ventricular extrasystole. Violations occur in the conduction system of the ventricles of the heart. Right ventricular and left ventricular extrasystole are isolated, depending on the degree of localization.

Symptoms of Arrhythmia

Symptoms of each type of arrhythmia are different. Most often, this is affected by the heart rate, localization, degree of neglect of the disease. But there are general symptoms, types of cardiac arrhythmias that are not affected:

• feeling of interruptions in the heart rhythm;
• a person feels and notices a heartbeat;
• the heart beats stronger or weaker than usual;
• there may be a fade in the work of the heart;
• choking, fainting, darkening in the eyes are possible;
• sudden tremors of the heart.

In addition, the types of arrhythmia affect the signs. The main symptoms of the disease, depending on the type:

• Tachycardia. At the initial stage of heart disease, symptoms may not be noticeable. Later, there is heaviness in the heart, pain, palpitations. As the disease progresses, shortness of breath, dizziness, and unexplained fatigue are added to this. Since tachycardia is a symptom of a heart disease, as the underlying disease progresses, its symptoms will intensify.
• Symptoms of atrial fibrillation are tied to its appearance. As a rule, atrial fibrillation begins paroxysmally. Then, after 3-4 attacks, this form develops into a chronic one and begins to be accompanied by constant shortness of breath, palpitations, headache, which are aggravated by physical exertion or other unfavorable physiological factors.
• Symptoms of bradycardia at the initial stage do not appear, there are no circulatory disorders. With this type of cardiac arrhythmia, treatment can be medication. When reduced to 40 beats per minute of heart rate, signs of fatigue, dizziness, darkening in the eyes, dullness of the mind, ringing in the ears begin to appear. Fainting and lethargic suppressed conditions are possible. In this case, blood pressure often decreases, body temperature can drop, complete apathy can occur.
• Symptoms of heart blockade depend on the stage of the disease. In the initial stages, they may not appear at all. Later, they are able to appear in the patient in the form of chest pain, panic attacks, fatigue and cold viscous perspiration, comes to nausea and vomiting. Symptoms may be similar to heart failure. And with an ECG, there are signs of myocardial infarction.
• Extrasystole. Symptoms of this disease most often manifest as sharp jolts in the heart, then organ fading may follow. All this can be accompanied by weakness, fever and sweating, anxiety, lack of air. In the future, extrasystole can lead to impaired blood circulation and, as a result, reduced blood supply to the brain and other organs.

The causes of the disease

Causes of arrhythmias, symptoms and treatment are largely affected. Often, before the appointment of treatment, the cardiologist analyzes the risks caused by the lifestyle and the environment of the patient.

Provoking factors:

• Bad habits. Despite how many articles and television shows warn of the dangers of drinking alcohol, smoking, and, especially, drugs, there are still people who do not want to give up addictions. All this provokes the development of heart diseases, and they, in turn, are the cause of arrhythmias.
• In second place, you can safely put caffeine. It doesn’t matter if it’s coffee or energy drinks, excessive consumption of these products can lead to damage to the cardiovascular system and arrhythmias.
• Stressful situations, depression and depressed conditions disrupt the functioning of the heart no worse than alcohol. Therefore, the main recommendation is to increase stress tolerance, and in advanced cases, consult a psychologist and, possibly, select the right medication.
• Metabolic disorder or menopause. It is difficult to control, therefore, in this case, you just need to seek medical help in a timely manner and undergo regular examinations.
• Excessive exercise. Especially often this problem affects professional athletes and those who are just starting to play sports with excessive zeal.

• Thyroid disease. They are also able to disrupt the functioning of the heart and lead to arrhythmias. Timely treatment by an endocrinologist can reduce the symptoms of arrhythmia and prevent heart disease.
• Infections, parasites and fungi. These uninvited inhabitants of the human body can deliver not only a lot of inconvenience to the owner, but also make serious changes to the work of the heart.
• Hypertension. The heart is inextricably linked to hematopoiesis. Therefore, the timely use of drugs that regulate pressure significantly reduces the risk of arrhythmia.
• Diseases of the brain. Not only the work of the heart affects the brain, but vice versa. Diseases of this organ negatively affect the work of the heart.

Each of these factors can trigger a serious heart disease. Namely, they are the main causes of arrhythmias.

Other serious causes of the disease:

1. Severe injuries, heart surgery can provoke arrhythmias if conductive structures were damaged in the process.
2. Myocarditis caused by problems with the electrical stability of the heart.
3. Defects of a hereditary nature and provoked by increased physical exertion.
4. Coronary artery disease caused by abnormalities in the structure of the myocardium.

Arrhythmia and treatments

When diagnosing a disease, the doctor analyzes the causes of arrhythmias, makes a diagnosis and prescribes treatment later. First of all, it is necessary to determine the underlying heart disease and treat it. In the initial stages of the disease, drugs belonging to the groups are often prescribed:

• blockers of calcium, sodium or potassium channels;
• beta blockers.

Let's consider them in more detail:

• Sodium channel blockers can improve the conductivity of pulses, and, as a result, adjust the heart rate.
• Potassium channel blockers are used, as a rule, in people with a high risk of ventricular fibrillation.
• Beta blockers. These drugs have shown their particular effectiveness against arrhythmias caused by damage to the central nervous system.

In the event that arrhythmias are caused by the use of any drugs, the cardiologist can either reduce the dosage of the previously prescribed medication or completely cancel it.

Arrhythmia Prevention

For people prone to heart disease, it is worth sticking to a few simple preventative measures:

• Continuous monitoring of blood pressure and sugar in the presence of diabetes or hypertension. These diseases are extremely detrimental to the cardiovascular system.
• Regular exercise, such as morning exercises.
• Hardening. Shown only after consultation with your doctor. In addition, it is necessary to harden gradually.
• If possible, give up smoking and alcohol, or consume sparingly.
• Maintaining normal weight and normalizing nutrition. Excess weight causes heart disease and vascular damage.

If the first signs of arrhythmia occur, you should immediately consult a cardiologist. Self-medication is unacceptable, this can lead not only to serious complications, but also to death. It is important not to delay treatment, even if the symptoms are mild or completely absent. Regular diagnostics, for example, medical examination, which is given to Russian citizens every three years, also reduces the risk of heart disease.