BRADYCARDIA
WHAT IS BRADYCARDIA?
Bradycardia is a very slow heart rate – 55 beats per minute and below. Due to such a low heart rate, the nutrition of the body is disrupted – the blood does not have time to deliver nutrients and oxygen to cells and organs.
SYMPTOMS OF BRADYCARDIA
Bradycardia manifests itself in general weakness caused by insufficient blood supply, dizziness and even fainting may occur. A striking symptom of bradycardia is rapid fatigue, as well as unstable blood pressure. Since due to the unstable work of the heart, the blood circulation of the brain is disrupted, it is he who first reacts to a decrease in heart rate with dizziness, weakness, breathing problems and other symptoms.
CAUSES OF BRADYCARDIA
The causes of a decrease in heart rate can be both congenital defects and acquired ones – for example, scarring of tissues after a myocardial infarction, as well as due to infectious diseases and other causes. Bradycardia is caused by congenital or acquired heart blockages or sinus node lesions. When the sinus node is weak, the pulses that the sinus node emits are not enough to provide the necessary heart rate. When the heart is blocked, the impulses that the sinus node emits do not pass to the ventricles and atria, which is why they cannot contract properly. AV blockades are classified by degrees from the 1st (lightest) to the 3rd (most severe).
As external causes of bradycardia, in addition to myocardial infarction, excessive loads on the cardiovascular system during sports, taking certain medications, rheumatic attacks, lyme disease, as well as some other diseases, including endocrine. Also, bradycardia can be caused by intoxication of the body due to liver failure, hyperkalemia, etc. In athletes, especially those who are subjected to a lot of endurance loads (runners, swimmers, skiers, etc.), bradycardia occurs very often – in trained runners or swimmers, for example, at rest, the heart can make 30-35 beats per minute. If in this case, heart defects and damage are excluded, as well as other diseases, then bradycardia does not need to be treated – the athlete’s trained heart is very powerful, and pumps large volumes of blood even at such a low rhythm.
diagnostics
For the diagnosis of this disease, as a rule, the results of an electrocardiogram are sufficient, and the suspicion of bradycardia arises from the doctor already when interviewing the patient – complaints about the symptoms described above give reason to think that the patient has a reduced heart rate. To identify the causes of bradycardia, the doctor may prescribe additional diagnostic tests – for example, such types of diagnostics as daily Holter monitoring, EchoCG, chest X-ray, bicycle ergometry, transesophageal heart examination, etc. can be used. Clarifying diagnostics is used to establish the causes of bradycardia, the degree of blockade, etc., as well as tests with physical activity, etc.
TREATMENT OF BRADYCARDIA
Treatment of bradycardia is aimed at eliminating the causes that caused the disease. Bradycardia is treated both therapeutically (medicamentally) and surgically.
With bradycardia, in order to eliminate the symptoms, a pacemaker is used, which makes the heart work at a normal rhythm. This allows you to restore blood supply and brain functions. Also, the EX is implanted in cases when it is not possible to restore the operability of the sinus node in other ways.
