Heart Palpitations: What is it, Cause, Symptoms and Treatment
Heart palpitations are one of the main complaints that cause admission to emergency departments and cardiology outpatient clinics. Heart palpitations literally mean acceleration of heart beats, abnormal or irregular heart beats. As a result of these changes in the functioning of the heart, the person may feel as if something is beating strongly in the neck or chest area. The underlying conditions of heart palpitations are usually benign, but care should be taken as the cause of heart palpitations in some people may be life-threatening diseases.
What is Heart Palpitations?
Heart palpitations are the feeling of having a fast beating or pounding heart. It can be triggered by stress, exercise, medication, or rarely, a medical condition. Although heart palpitations can be alarming, they are usually harmless.
What are the Causes of Heart Palpitations?
Heart palpitations can have many causes. As a result of various studies, it has been determined that the cause of heart palpitations is due to the heart in approximately 4 out of every 10 people, and in 3 out of every 10 people, the palpitations occur due to psychiatric reasons.
Heart palpitations, which occur due to heart-related reasons, may occur due to structural problems of the heart or due to conditions such as anemia or pregnancy, where the workload of the heart increases. Vascular problems are also among the problems that cause palpitations.
Palpitations that occur during times of physical activity and intense stress occur due to the stimulating hormones that the body produces and releases into the bloodstream as a reaction to these situations.
Psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety disorder or panic attack can also cause palpitations. However, these people should be careful as palpitations may also occur due to heart-related problems.
Excessive activity of the thyroid gland is called hyperthyroidism. Heart palpitations are among the common complaints in hyperthyroidism patients. Low blood sugar and changes in the levels of various minerals such as calcium, magnesium or potassium in the bloodstream can also result in palpitations.
In general, the following conditions are more common in people who complain of heart palpitations:
- Strong emotional responses such as stress, extreme anxiety, or panic attacks
- Depression
- Challenging exercises
- Consumption of products and drugs containing caffeine, nicotine or various stimulant chemicals
- Fire
- Hormonal changes that occur during menstruation, pregnancy or menopause
- The level of thyroid gland hormones is below or above normal
- Use of various herbal supplement products
Heart-related causes of heart palpitations may include life-threatening conditions. These problems include irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), previous heart attack, problems with the coronary vessels feeding the heart, heart valve disorders, heart muscle diseases and heart failure.
What are the Risk Factors for Heart Palpitations?
Situations that can be considered among the risk factors for heart palpitations are generally related to the reasons for this complaint. There is an increased risk of heart palpitations in people with increased stress levels, psychiatric disorders such as anxiety disorders and panic attacks, being pregnant, people being treated with stimulant-containing drugs, thyroid patients and people with heart disease.
What are the symptoms of heart palpitations?
Symptoms of heart palpitations can cause intense anxiety, especially if they occur suddenly or if someone who has not experienced this feeling before experiences it. There are many symptoms that can be identified as heart palpitations:
- Feeling of heartbeat as if the heart stops for a short time and then beats again.
- Fluctuating sensation in the chest area, often referred to as bird fluttering
- Feeling like your heart beats suddenly speeding up or slowing down
These sensations may occur in the neck and throat area, as well as in the chest area. If the feeling of palpitation, which comes and goes for a short time, increases over time or if its severity changes over time, it is recommended that you contact healthcare institutions and get help from doctors regarding this complaint.
In particular, caution should be exercised if the symptoms of heart palpitations are accompanied by symptoms such as pain or discomfort in the chest area, shortness of breath, or fainting or dizziness, as they may indicate important medical conditions that require urgent intervention.
How is Heart Palpitation Diagnosed?
The most important stages of the diagnostic approach for people who apply to health institutions with complaints of palpitations include physical examination and taking the patient’s history. Factors that may be effective in the emergence or change of the course of this complaint are evaluated. Accompanying symptoms, medications or supplements used by the patient are among other issues that need to be considered, as they may cause palpitations.
After the initial evaluation of the patient experiencing palpitations, physicians may perform a number of tests to clarify the underlying problem. Biochemical analysis of blood, ECG (electrocardiography), Holter insertion, insertion of devices that record heart-related events or ECO (echocardiography), which allows imaging of the heart using sound waves, are among the methods used in the diagnostic approach to palpitations.
- Laboratory Tests
The patient’s complete blood count, blood urea, creatinine and electrolyte levels are among the laboratory tests used in people experiencing heart palpitations. The level of thyroid hormones can be evaluated if the physician suspects a health condition such as hyperthyroidism in the patient.
- ECG (Electrocardiography)
The process of detecting the electrical activities that occur during the functioning of the heart through electrodes placed on the chest and printing these values on a piece of paper is called ECG. With the help of this device, rhythm disorders or some structural abnormalities that may be related to the person’s palpitation complaint can be detected.
- Attaching a Holter Monitor
With the holter, a portable device, a person’s ECG can be recorded continuously over a period of 1-3 days. If no information can be obtained as a result of the ECG examination performed in the hospital, a holter monitor can be attached to the patient and changes in the heart function of this person outside the hospital can be detected.
- Event Recorders
Thanks to these devices, which can be used in people who experience palpitations for long periods of time, such as once a week, or in patients who complain of palpitations but whose heart rhythm is detected regularly, ECG recording can be provided for long periods of time, such as weeks or months.
Event recorders start ECG recording when the patient presses the activating button when palpitations occur and continue recording for several minutes.
How is Heart Palpitation Treated?
As with every disease, palpitation treatment varies depending on the main reason that triggers this complaint. If the cause of heart palpitations is determined to be some rhythm disorders, cardiological interventions such as radiofrequency ablation may be useful, while in people with problems with heart functions, medications such as beta blockers or calcium channel blockers may be prescribed by physicians.
The basic principles of palpitation treatment include avoiding triggering factors that cause this complaint. In particular, reducing the stress level of life through relaxation techniques such as yoga or breathing exercises and avoiding products that may have stimulant properties are among the important lifestyle changes that can be considered within the scope of palpitation treatment. Practices such as stopping tobacco use, regular physical activity or a healthy and balanced diet are other lifestyle changes that may be effective on palpitations, with the knowledge and recommendation of your physician.
