Heart Palpitations

They are heartbeat sensations that feel like your heart is pounding or racing. You may simply have an unpleasant awareness of your own heartbeat, or may feel skipped or heartbeat stops. The heart rate may be normal or abnormal heartbeat can be felt in the chest, throat or neck.

See also arrhythmia.
Alternative Names

Heartbeat sensations; irregular heartbeat, palpitations, pounding or racing heartbeat
General considerations

Normally the heart beats 60 to 100 times per minute. In people who exercise routinely or take medications to reduce heart rate, the rate may drop below 55 beats per minute.

If heart rate is very fast (over 100 beats per minute) is called tachycardia, while an unusually slow heart rate is called bradycardia. When you feel extra heartbeat is known as extrasystole.

Palpitations are usually not serious. However, it depends on whether the sensations represent an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia) or not. It is more likely that abnormal heart rhythms in a person if:

* Known heart disease at the time the palpitations begin.
* Has significant risk factors for heart disease.
* Have an abnormal heart valve.
* An electrolyte abnormality: for example, low potassium.

Common Causes

Heart palpitations can be caused by:

* Exercise
* Anxiety, stress, fear
* Fever
* Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, diet pills
* Thyrotoxicosis
Anemia
* Hyperventilation
* Low levels of oxygen in the blood
* Medications such as thyroid pills, asthma drugs, beta blockers, or antiarrhythmics. (Medications to treat an irregular heart rhythm can sometimes cause a different irregular rhythm).
* Mitral valve prolapse, a condition in which the valve that separates the left upper chamber (atrium) from the left lower chamber (ventricle) of the heart does not close properly.
* Heart disease

Home Care

The fact reduce stress and anxiety can help lessen the frequency or intensity of heart palpitations. Try different breathing exercises or deep relaxation (a stress process step by step and then relaxing every muscle group in your body) when palpitations occur. Similarly, the fact of practicing yoga or tai chi on a regular basis can reduce the frequency of your palpitations.

Maintain a record of the frequency of palpitations, the moment in which, how long they last, the heart rate at the time they occur and what the person feels at that moment. This information can help the doctor figure out both their seriousness and their underlying cause.

Once the doctor rules out a serious cause, it is important NOT to pay attention to heart palpitations, unless you notice a sudden increase or change in them.

If you have never had heart palpitations before, bring them to the attention of the physician.
Call your doctor if

Call your local emergency number (such as 112 in Spain) if:

* Someone faints or loses consciousness.
* You have difficulty breathing, chest pain, unusual sweating, dizziness or lightheadedness.

Call your doctor right away if:

* You feel frequent extra heartbeats (more than 6 per minute or in groups of 3 or more).
* The person has risk factors for heart disease, like high cholesterol, diabetes or hypertension.
* You have palpitations new or different.
* The pulse is over 100 beats per minute (without exercise, anxiety or fever).

What to Expect at Your Office

The doctor will take your medical history, conduct a physical exam and an EKG.

If the patient has chest pain, shortness of breath or other worrisome symptoms, and is in the emergency room, your heart rate is monitored and, if necessary, carry out an emergency intervention to restore normal heart rhythm .

If the patient does not have the symptoms at the time of the visit, the doctor will want to know what your pulse was at the time when you felt the palpitations and whether the rhythm felt regular or not.

The patient can ask:

* Do you feel skipped or stopped beats?
* Does your heart rate feel slow or fast when you have palpitations?
* Are the heartbeat, frequent, severe or stirred?
* Is there a regular or irregular pattern to the unusual heartbeat sensations?
* Palpitations begin or end suddenly?
* When the palpitations occur? Does it occur in response to reminders of a traumatic event? You are lying down and resting? When you change your body position? When you feel emotional?
* Do you have other symptoms?

As part of the physical, the doctor will check your temperature, pulse, breathing rate and blood pressure as well as special attention to the heart and lungs.

Diagnostic tests that may be performed:

* ECG
* Ambulatory cardiac monitoring (eg using a Holter monitor for 24 hours while other monitors can take two weeks or more)
* Echocardiography
* Electrophysiology study (EPS)
* Coronary Angiography

If the doctor finds you have an abnormal heart rhythm, should record this information and make sure to tell other professionals involved in patient care.
Prevention

To try to reduce stress and risk factors for heart disease or heart disease is recommended:

* No smoking.
* Eat a well-balanced diet low in fat.
* Exercise regularly.
* Try stress management techniques like yoga, tai chi or meditation.
* Ensure that blood pressure and cholesterol are under control.

Cardiology Consultation

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