BRADYCARDIA Bradycardia is when the heart rate is too slow to meet the needs of your body. Symptoms of bradycardia are dizziness, extreme fatigue, shortness of breath or fainting spells. Bradycardia occurs most often because of a heart rhythm disturbance. This disturbance could be caused by hereditary defects, certain illness, some cardiac drugs, aging process, or aftermath of a heart attack. Two types of rhythmic disturbances that cause bradycardia are SA node disease and heart block. SINOATRIAL (SA) NODE DISEASE This disease is also called sick sinus syndrome. This is when SA node cannot begin a heart beat or cannot increase the heart rate other tissues in the heart take over the job; but often these other tissues cannot maintain a consistent heart rate or they create a rate that is too slow or too fast. The pacemaker can solve this by taking over the job of the SA node. HEART BLOCK Heart block is when the AV node is blocked from sending electrical signals to the ventricles. The severity is described in degrees, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd as to how slow the heart rate is. A pacemaker can take over the impaired AV node and restore normal heart function. TACHYARRHYTHMIA Tachyarrhythmia is when the heart rate is faster than what the body needs. During tachyarrhythmia the heart rate is more than 100 beats a minutes and can be as fast as 400 beats a minute. Some symptoms of tachyarrhythmia include shortness of breath, dizziness, sudden weakness, fluttering in the chest, lightheadedness, and fainting. Tachyarrhythmia has been linked to high blood pressure, poor blood supply to the heart muscle due to coronary disease, heart valve disease, heart failure, heart muscle disease, tumors, and infections. As well substance abuse can be a cause like alcohol and drug abuse. Tachyarrhythmia occurs when irritable cells in the heart muscle or hearts electrical conduction system start to fire faster then the hearts normal rhythm. There are two types of tachyarrhythmia; they are atrial tachyarrhythmia and two-ventricle tachyarrhythmia. Depending on the type of tachyarrhythmia and the severity depends on whether a pacemaker would be any use. ATRIAL TACHYARRHYTHMIA Atrial tachyarrhythmias start in the atria and are called atria flutter (atria pump at a very rapid, regular rate) and atrial fibrillation (atria quiver rather then pump). With atrial fibrillation, blood may remain in the atria so long that a clot forms. If a clot travels to the brain, a stroke may occur. TWO-VENTRICLE TACHYARRHYTHMIA Two ventricle tachyarrhythmias that start in the ventricles are called ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. Because the ventricles pump blood to the body, both of these conditions can lead to a quick depletion of oxygen to the body a life threatening condition.
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