Pronounced uh-RITH-mee-uh
Also known as Dysrhythmia, Irregular heartbeat, Heart rhythm disorder
An arrhythmia is a heartbeat that is too fast, too slow or irregular because the heart's electrical signalling has gone wrong. Some are harmless and lifelong, others raise the risk of stroke or are immediately dangerous.
In Cardiology
The heart has its own wiring. A patch of tissue in the right atrium fires at a steady rate, and the signal spreads through the muscle in a fixed order so the chambers squeeze in sequence. An arrhythmia is any fault in that sequence — a signal starting in the wrong place, travelling by the wrong route, or being blocked on the way. What a person feels is , or nothing at all.
| Rhythm | What it is | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Ectopic beats | A single early beat, felt as a skip or a thud | Very common and usually harmless in a normal heart |
| Atrial fibrillation | Chaotic, irregular signalling in the upper chambers | Raises stroke risk several-fold; usually needs a blood thinner rather than only rate control |
| Supraventricular tachycardia | Sudden bursts of a fast, regular beat | Alarming rather than dangerous in most people, and curable |
| Heart block | The signal is delayed or fails to reach the lower chambers | Can cause blackouts and may need a pacemaker |
Diagnosis rests on catching the rhythm in the act, which is why a normal resting does not exclude one and a 24-hour monitor or an event recorder is often the next step. An and thyroid and blood tests look for a cause. Get emergency help for palpitations with blackout, chest pain or breathlessness, and see a doctor within days for a pulse that is persistently irregular.
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