Tachycardia is a medical condition in which the heart rate of a person is over 100 beats a minute as opposed to the normal rate which lies within the range of 60 to 100. While in some cases tachycardia is not serious and requires no specific treatment in others it is a major concern that can be extremely dangerous. Tachycardia can be controlled sometimes with medications but in other instances it takes as drastic an action as open-heart surgery to correct it.
Function
The human heart contains four hollow chambers: two upper chambers called atria and two lower chambers known as ventricles. Every beat of the heart starts in the right atrium when a sinus node, which serves as a pacemaker, emits an electrical signal that makes the atria contract. This results with the ventricles being filled with blood. The electrical impulse then causes the ventricles to contract, pulsing blood through the various blood vessels and throughout the body. But when someone suffers from tachycardia these impulses are disrupted and the heart is made to beat too rapidly.
Types
There are different types of tachycardia, categorized according to where they occur in the heart. The most common tachycardia is called atrial fibrillation, in which the atria can beat as many as 400 times in a minute, normally seen in people 60 years old and older. Atrial flutter is much like fibrillation except it seems to be more rhythmic, with chest pain as a result. Supraventricular tachycardia describes a condition that occurs mostly in younger people and results in the heart beating anywhere from 160 to 200 times in a minute. Ventricular tachycardia is a dangerous situation that happens most of the time in a damaged heart and can turn fatal without treatment. Ventricular fibrillation is deadly if not quickly corrected, with the heart unable to pump blood through the body.
Effects
There are certain triggers that can cause a tachycardia in some individuals. These substances can affect the electrical system's function in the heart after moderate to prolonged exposure. Things such as alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, and drugs such as cocaine which are classified as stimulants can have this effect on a heart. Some prescription drugs list the ability to cause tachycardia as a side effect and dietary supplements and other medications can result in rapid heartbeats as well.
Considerations
The signs and symptoms that go with a tachycardia episode can include becoming dizzy and being short of breath. A person suffering from tachycardia may be lightheaded and feel their heart racing in their chest, a rather disconcerting and uncomfortable feeling. Chest pain can be accompanied by blurred vision and passing out. Some individuals though may experience no symptoms at all while having tachycardia attacks.
Prevention/Solution
Tachycardia is treated according to how often it occurs and what symptoms it brings. Medications are administered that can slow down the heart rate while others work by blocking or slowing impulses in the heart. Blood thinners can lessen the possibility of strokes and heart attacks when a tachycardia takes place. Electric shock therapy can be utilized to bring a heart back to a normal rhythm. Some drugs have this ability as well. Surgical procedures to treat tachycardia include implanting a device known as a cardioverter-defibrillator to keep track of heart beats and use electrical impulses whenever tachycardia occurs to restore a normal heart rate. Open heart surgery for tachycardia aims to create a situation in the muscle where the heart will not carry stray electrical impulses that cause irregular heart beats.
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