What is Arrhythmia? How to be treated?

In its normal condition, the human heart is like a strong bunch of muscles, pumping and maintaining
the constant flow of blood throughout the circulatory system. It pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood
through the body every day and beats about 2.5 billion times in an average 70-year lifespan. The
structure of the human heart is highly complex. It has 4 chambers, 2 upper called Atria and two lower
called ventricles. The flow of the blood is controlled and backflow prevented by flaps called valves.
For blood to reach all tissues in all parts of the body, the blood needs to flow properly and the rhythm
of the 4 heart chambers has to be maintained.

A term weve often heard is the Pacemaker. Every heartbeat starts with an electrical impulse and the
pacemaker is the origin of these impulses, a node called SAN or the Sinu-Atrial Node. Due to a
coordinated process, the heart beats blood, starting in the Right atrium, following a fixed path to the
ventricles and them to the whole body from both the Vena Cava. Any issue with these impulses alters
the whole process, causing abnormal rhythm of the heart. This is called Arrhythmia.

Arrhythmia is may see the electrical impulses being too fast, too slow or erratic, leading to the heart to
beat too fast, too slow or erratically. When it beats too slowly, with about 60 beats per minute, it is
known as Bradycardia. The condition with an abnormally fast heart rate, with up to 100 beats per
minute, is called Tachycardia. Simple, painless tests like the Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) are
used for diagnosis by monitoring the electrical activity of the Heart.

Symptoms of Arrhythmia include:

Irregular heart beat

Shortness of breath

Fatigue

Dizziness

Light-headedness

Fainting or near-fainting spells

Rapid heartbeat or pounding

Chest pain

In extreme cases, collapse and sudden cardiac arrest

Health problems, especially of the heart, are scary. While surgery is one treatment, it is often taken as
the last resort. Medicinal treatments are used to treat arrhythmias by facilitating the slowing down of
the heart or thinning of blood to prevent clot formation. In some cases, an artificial pacemaker may be
placed surgically to control the electrical impulses.

Arrhythmias are serious complications that are known to cause serious damage to the heart and
consecutively to one or more organs. For this, it is important that the proper care and treatment is
undertaken as soon as possible. Such care is provided at Narayana Health, also known as Narayana
Hrudayalaya; heart care is one of their fortes, making them the heart care centre of choice in
Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad with patients coming for Arrhythmia treatment from all
across India and even abroad. The care provided by the hospital is such that many of its former
patients swear by the work of not just its doctors and nurses but also the support/helper staff and their
front desk for this services and etiquette. We feel that to them, nothing matters more than the care
and medical tact needed to restore a patients good health.