Heart Palpitations
By: Krystal Murphy
What are Heart Palpitations?
Heart palpitations are this random feeling of your heart beating too fast or too hard. You may feel these palpitations in your chest, throat and/or neck. Heart palpitations are also known as Atrial Fibrillation.
What causes Heart Palpitations?
Some causes of heart palpitations are:
- Strong emotions such as; fear, anxiety, or stress. Can occur during panic attacks.
- Typically when you do significant amount of physical activity.
- Some street drugs such as cocaine, caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine.
- Some medical conditions including; low blood sugar, thyroid disease, low blood pressure.
- Other things that can be cold symptoms could be fevers and dehydration.
- Hormonal changes during periods, perimenopausal period, and sometimes during pregnancy which could be anemia.
- Some medications including; diet pills, decongestants, and asthma inhalers.
- Some herbal and nutritional supplements.
- An abnormal erythrocyte level.
Occurrence of Heart Palpitations
Any one at any time can get palpitations. Many people get it at least one time in their life. It may happen when you get scared and you feel like your heart is beating so fast out of your chest then goes away and you feel fine, that is a heart palpitation.
Prevention and Treatment of Heart Palpitations
Some main things to prevent these from happening can be:
- Drinking some cold water (helps some people).
- Eat and drink right in moderation (like avoid eating too much all at once, and maybe try cutting back on caffeine).
- Reduce stress and get plenty of sleep.
- Start exercising three to four times a week.
You can also calm flutters by:
- Sitting down and propping feet up with slow steady breaths.
- Valasalva maneuver; which is when you pinch your nose and close your mouth and try to exhale. The quick rise of blood pressure will help reset your heart and go back to a normal level.
- You can also give a quick hard cough which also give a quick pressure increase in your chest which will also reset your heart rhythm.
Treatment may be:
- Electrically restarting the rhythm of your heart
- Doctors will start on the blood thinners in case of any clots
- Cardio version of drugs; which is taking some anti-arrhythmic and be monitored by the doctors
Some of the risk factors
Some of the risks are:
- Without speaking to your doctor when this occurs very often and long periods of time you could faint
- Have a stroke (in severe cases)
- Cardiac arrest (in severe cases)
- Overtime for long periods can cause enlargement of the heart
- Blood clots can form with the help of heart palpitations leading to a stroke.
- And many more
Sources
- Heart Palpitations: Causes, Treatments, After Eating, Lying Down."WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2016
- "Natural Home Remedies: Palpitations." How to Naturally Treat Heart Palpitations. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.
- "Heart Palpitations | Causes & Risk Factors." Heart Palpitations. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.
- http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-palpitations/basics/complications/con-20034780 (N.p., n.d. Web.)
- https://www.uihealthcare.org/health-library/heart-palpitations-frequently-asked-questions/(N.p., n.d. Web.)
- http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atrial-fibrillation/diagnosis-treatment/treatment/txc-20164944
- http://newscentre.boehringer-ingelheim.com/education_hub1/cardiovascular-stroke/aft/infographics/Risk_Factors_for_Atrial_Fibrillation.html