A doctor who specializes in issues of the heart is called a cardiologist. According to the American College of Cardiology, cardiologists are trained to find, treat and help prevent diseases that attack the blood vessels and the heart. Under the...
Atrial fibrillation is a condition of an irregular and rapid heartbeat that results in poor blood flow throughout the body. In a normal heart, electrical impulses originating in the right atria signal the two upper chambers (called the atria) and...
Normal heart function is regulated by electrical flow throughout heart tissue, which maintains a regular beat and rhythm. Sometimes, disruptions in the normal flow of electricity can cause disturbances in heart beat and/or rhythm. In...
Pacemaker warning signs can alert a pacemaker patient to the potential complications or failure of his cardiac device. Pacemakers are small electronic mechanisms that surgeons implant into the upper chest of some cardiac patients. The devices can...
Cardiac ablation is a procedure performed to correct irregular heart rhythms. Electrodes are used to correct the structural problems that are responsible for the arrhythmia. Ablation is reserved for cases of irregular heart rhythms that have not...
The term "heart disease" refers to a wide variety of diseases involving the heart, including arrhythmias, congenital heart defects and heart infections. However, most people associate heart disease with coronary artery disease or cardiovascular...
Tachycardia, or rapid pulse, occurs when the heart rate exceeds 100 beats per minute. Normally, heart rate increases during exercise to meet the increased oxygen needs of the muscles, and in situations of perceived stress or danger, when the body...
Atrial fibrillation is a condition in which nerve impulses that regulate heart rate become irregular and cause a disorganized heart rhythm in the atria -- the upper chambers of the heart. This condition occurs in 3 to 5 percent of people over age...
Patients determined to understand how their pacemakers operate quickly realize medical and technological jargon stand in the way. In less than 50 years, technology has transformed the pacemaker from a simple, non-programmable device into a...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a total of 150 minutes of exercise per week with at least two days of strength training for each major muscle group. These guidelines are the same for men and women. Exercise offers several...
An estimated 285 million Americans subscribe to cell phone service in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. As the number grows, so does concern surrounding possible health effects from cell phone use. Numerous scientific...
Educate yourself about the physical symptoms that may accompany atrial fibrillation. Not everyone who has this type of rapid, irregular heartbeat shows outward symptoms of the disorder. People who do feel something abnormal going on with their...
A pacemaker is a small medical device designed to regulate abnormal heart rhythms. Pacemakers produce a low-grade electrical current that stimulates the heart to beat. They have a number of clinical indications including tachycardia,...
Exercise physiology is defined by the American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP) as the understanding of the physiological mechanisms behind physical activity that allows for comprehensive treatment of patients. Exercise physiologists are...
Potassium is an essential ion found within the cells of the body. The delicate balance between potassium outside the cell, known as the extracellular fluid K+ and the potassium inside the cell, called the intracellular fluid K+ helps maintain the...
Potassium plays an extremely important role in the electrophysiology of your body's cells. According to "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine," potassium or K+ is the major positively charged ion in the cells. In fact, approximately 98...
Ablation is a medical procedure to remove or destroy body tissue or to destroy the function of a specific body part. Methods used in ablation procedures include radiofrequency, heat, drugs and surgery, according to the National Cancer Institute....
Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a condition in which the heart has an extra electrical pathway, can lead to a dangerously fast heart rhythm, according to Medline Plus. While the condition is present at birth, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome can...
The heart provides blood to the lungs to collect oxygen to expel carbon dioxide, then pumps the blood out to the organs to supply them with oxygen and other nutrients. The organs need a continuous but variable supply of blood. The local blood...
Adenosine is a prescription drug that helps slow the heartbeat by slowing the heart's electrical conduction. Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, PSVT, is a type of irregular heartbeat that produces a rapid heart rate. Usually administered at...
Electrical impulses trigger your heart to beat so that it pumps blood throughout your body. A normal resting heart rate for an adult typically ranges from 55 to 95 beats per minute, according to Douglas Zipes, author of "Cardiac...
If the levels of potassium within the body are low, then the condition called hypokalemia occurs. According to "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine," potassium is the major positively charged ion in the internal cellular environment that is...
High levels of potassium in the body reflect a condition called hyperkalemia. According to the "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine," potassium is a crucial electrolyte in resting membrane potential. In hyperkalemic states, the delicate...
An irregular heartbeat is known as an arrhythmia and can be caused by several conditions that disrupt the normal and healthy electrical flow in the heart. A heart attack, for example, may scar heart tissue that plays a part in electrical activity...
The heart is an amazing organ, beating an average of 100,000 times per day to pump blood throughout the body. The precise timing and contraction of the heart is mainly due to an electrical pathway starting from the top chambers of the heart...
A normal heart beats at a rate from 60 to 100 times a minute, according to the Heart Rhythm Society website. Your heart rate can increase to 160 to 180 or more beats per minute during intense exercise. Variations in diet, medication, activity and...
High blood pressure, commonly known as hypertension, refers to increased pressure in the arteries of the body. Pulse rate, on the other hand, is a measurement of the number of times the heart beats in a minute. As the resistance in the arteries...
According to the American Heart Association, 60 percent of Americans are familiar with CPR, yet only 27 percent of those in cardiac arrest actually receive CPR from a bystander. Because a significant percentage of cardiac emergencies occur out of...
Tachycardia is a condition that causes your resting heart rate to elevate to higher than normal, which for an adult at rest is 60 to 100 times per minute. Symptoms include dizziness, light-headedness, elevated pulse rate, palpitations and chest...
Cardiac arrhythmia is a term covering a broad group of conditions that denote irregular electrical activity in the heart. Learn more about arrhythmias, including symptoms and treatments in this health video.
