Premature heartbeat are a common arrhythmia in clinical practice.
Clinical observations have found that 39% to 50% of normal young people have premature heartbeat, and 76% to 80% of elderly people over 60 years old have premature heartbeat. Almost all people have premature heartbeat in their lives, but many people don’t feel it.
1. Classification of premature heartbeat
Premature heartbeat are divided into physiological and pathological type, and can also be divided into two categories: premature atrial contractions and premature ventricular contraction.
Those without heart disease are called functional premature heartbeat, and those with heart disease are called organic premature heartbeat or pathological premature heartbeat.
1). Causes of physiological premature heartbeat
Physiological premature heartbeat are mostly caused by nervous disorders, emotional agitation, mental tension, fatigue, menopause, incontinence in diet, irregular daily life, indigestion, excessive drinking and smoking or taking beverages such as strong tea, coffee, and damaged cervical spine oppress the nerves that innervate the heart.
Some medicines can also induce premature heartbeat, including antiarrhythmic medicines, that is, medicines that treat premature heartbeat can also cause premature heartbeat.
Premature heartbeat in adults are mostly related to anxiety.
2). Causes of pathological premature heartbeat
Pathological premature heartbeat mostly occur in coronary heart disease, hypertension, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, mitral valve disease, hyperthyroid heart disease, etc.
However, the treatment of premature heartbeat are not indispensable. In the case of few premature heartbeat, no obvious symptoms, and no heart disease, it is not harmful to the patient and does not require treatment.
When there are many premature heartbeat, the number of premature heartbeat exceeds 10% of the total heartbeats, and there are obvious symptoms such as chest tightness, shortness of breath, palpitation and fatigue; frequent premature heartbeat cause chronic damage to the heart structure and cause cardiomyopathy, or combined with serious heart disease, it is possible to cause malignant arrhythmia such as ventricular fibrillation due to much premature heartbeat, and then treatment is necessary.
2. What should be to do if find premature heartbeat?
If you find premature heartbeat, you can ask a doctor to find out the cause and evaluate the severity of premature heartbeat. If the cause can be found, as long as the cause of premature heartbeat is removed, the premature heartbeat can be gradually eliminated. If the cause of the premature beat cannot be found, ask the doctor to decide whether it is necessary to treat the premature heartbeat.
Occasionally premature heartbeat are not caused by disease and have little effect on blood circulation, so treatment is generally unnecessary.
Frequent premature heartbeat, especially on the basis of heart disease, may evolve into severe heart rhythm disorders, or may cause angina pectoris and heart failure, and may even be life-threatening. Should pay more attention and treat.
For premature heartbeat that can be treated or not, it is necessary to let patients lay down unnecessary ideological burdens, but also cannot ignore the potential risks. The doctor should correctly judge the risks of premature heartbeat and help patients make appropriate choices.
If the patient is younger and the heart condition is good, even if the number of premature heartbeat is large, you can leave it alone and pay attention to it.
If a patient has a family history of death due to hereditary arrhythmia, or premature heartbeat with syncope and severe organic heart disease, there may be only a few thousand premature heartbeat in 24 hours, and treatment is also required.
Although there are many medicines that can relieve premature heartbeat, but there is a lack of satisfactory medicines. These medicines are often more intense, and each patient has a large individual difference, and the rules and dosages are not same, so should be taken under the guidance of a doctor.
Frequent premature heartbeat that are ineffective in drug treatment, patients who cannot tolerate, affect the quality of life or produce hemodynamic effects, can use transcatheter radiofrequency ablation to treat premature ventricular contraction.
Radiofrequency treatment is to send the electrode catheter to the heart from the femoral arteriovenous route, find the origin and route of the premature beat, and then release the radiofrequency current through the catheter to heat the corresponding part of the myocardium, destroy the abnormal origin of the premature beat or its conduction pathway, thereby eliminating the premature beat , Some patients can be cured, which can avoid the inconvenience and side effects of long-term medication.
Radiofrequency ablation is not suitable for relatively infrequent asymptomatic Premature ventricular contraction. Radiofrequency ablation is never recommended for patients with infrequent premature heartbeat with unobvious symptoms.
The symptoms of premature heartbeat are obvious. The number of premature heartbeat exceeds 10% of the heart beats. The effect of drug treatment is not good, and the doctor can recommend ablation therapy for those with a higher success rate of ablation treatment.
Between them, the doctor should make correct judgments on the benefits and risks of treatment, and explain the pros and cons of treatment to patients and their families.
3. How to have a good heart rate
Heart rate is the speed of the heartbeat. Every pulse of a person represents an effective heartbeat. The number of heartbeats per minute is the heart rate.
Heart rate can be touched by the body surface pulse, so it is also called pulse. The heartbeat is different from person to person, children are faster, and older people are slower.
120~140 times/m for baby, 90-100 times/m for toddler, 80-90 times/m for school-age children, and 60-90 times/m for adults, all are normal.
A well-trained athlete has a well-developed heart. It is normal for a heartbeat to be less than 60 beats per minute when be quiet.
Resting heart rate is the heart rate when you wake up in the morning but have not yet got up. It is best to count the heartbeat instead of the pulse. Resting heart rate is closely related to cardiovascular disease.
Studies have confirmed that people with a fast heart rate at rest have higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and a faster heart rate will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and death.
Stomp to test the heart rate: stretch out one hand, palm up, and place the forefinger, middle finger and ring finger of the other hand at the base of the thumb. Strike the floor with your pulse rhythm and hold for 1 minute. If the percussion sound and rhythm are like the seconds of clock, everything is normal.
Heart rate classification: We divide the heart rate into 5 level and the standard for these 5 levels is
A-level heart rate: 55~66 beats/minute
B-level heart rate: 67~73 beats/min
C-level heart rate: 74~79 beats/minute
D-level heart rate: 80~87 beats/minute
E-level heart rate: ≥88 beats/min
It is best for healthy people to achieve A level heart rate. For people with hypertension or coronary heart disease, A level heart rate is the best, B level heart rate is also good, and C level or higher heart rate must be paid more attention.
A large number of clinical observations have confirmed that if the patient’s heart rate can reach the target, it can greatly reduce the occurrence of malignant events such as sudden death, myocardial infarction, and stroke, and can effectively improve the patient’s quality of life.
The way to slow down your heart rate and gain longevity is:
Establish a good lifestyle, reasonable diet, moderate exercise, stable mood, ensure sleep, strict self-discipline, etc.
