With age, a person’s heart
generally slows and while resting. Consult with your doctor if you’re concerned
about your heart rate to determine whether bradycardia suggests a problem.
Heart rate changes with an individual’s activity level. The ticker has to pump
faster and harder during intense physical exertion so the rate goes up. A slow
heart rate is below 60 beats per minute (bpm) in most adults.
Symptoms:
A slow heart rate is the
primary symptom of bradycardia. Some people have no other symptoms whereas
other people do experience symptoms where a slow ticker rate is more likely to
be due to a serious issue. Some of the common symptoms include feelings of
exhaustion and weakness, confusion, fainting or dizziness, difficulty breathing
when working out. More severe symptoms
may appear including cardiac arrest (the ticker stops), chest pain, low or high
blood pressure, heart failure when a serious medical condition causes
bradycardia and an individual does not seek treatment.
Causes:
Some people have only moderate
bradycardia whereas some only experience occasional bradycardia. It is crucial
that an individual with a slow heart rate seek medical guidance, but not
everyone will need treatment as a slow heart rate may be harmless or minor
issue when bradycardia causes no other symptoms and when a person does not have
an underlying condition. Bradycardia episodes are common in older people as the
ticker rate tends to decline with age. Although it’s typical, it still warrants
investigation by a healthcare provider.
Exercise strengthens the
ticker with athletes having more efficient tickers especially those who engage
in intense cardiovascular activity which may slow their pulse because there’s
no need for their ticker to pump as hard or as fast to supply oxygenated blood
to the rest of the body.
A slow heart rate can also be
due to some medical conditions including
1.
Problems
with the ticker’s natural pacemaker , or sinoatrial node, that helps regulate heartbeat.
2.
Other heart
electrical issues.
3.
Metabolic
disorders with one of the most common being hypothyroidism (the thyroid does
not produce enough thyroid hormones).
4.
Heart
disease and heart medication.
5.
Oxygen
deprivation.
When to Consult with a Healthcare Provider:
A parent or carer should
immediately take a baby who has a low pulse to the emergency room. It is as
important for adults and children who’ve a low pulse and experience severe
symptoms like chest pain or fainting to visit the hospital.
See a doctor for bradycardia
when you experience an unexplained change in heart rate lasting several days,
you have heart disease and bradycardia, you have bradycardia and other heart
health risk factors like diabetes or smoking, you experience episodes of
bradycardia and tachycardia (fast heart rate that makes the ticker beat more
than 100 times per minute).
Treatment:
A slow heart rate doesn’t
always necessitate treatment, however, if it causes serious health problems or
when heart disease slows the ticker, it is important that people receive
treatment. An artificial pacemaker can help in this regard, which is an
electrical device that a doctor inserts into the ticker to promote regular
rhythms. A healthcare provider depending upon the cause might also recommend
changing heart medications, making lifestyle changes (adopting healthy
measures), taking medication to treat thyroid or other metabolic disorders,
frequently monitoring heart rate or blood pressure.
In USA, heart disease is the
leading cause of death that accounts for 1 out of every 4 deaths. Any changes in the health
of ticker, blood pressure, or pulse should be taken very seriously. See a
doctor for guidance as only a doctor can evaluate an individual's
cardiovascular risk factors.
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