Your ticker may beat too fast, too
slow or inconsistently. Arrhythmia is an irregularity in either the rhythm or
rate of the heartbeat. Arrhythmia treatment can take on many different forms
which depends on the type and severity of the irregular heartbeat and what’s
causing it. Medication treatments for arrhythmia are known as chemical
cardioversion that involves the patient receiving antiarrhythmic medicine
orally or intravenously.
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a
sudden, unexpected death caused by loss of function of your ticker (sudden
cardiac arrest- SCA). It is the largest cause of natural death in the United
States and is also responsible for half of all cardiovascular disease deaths.
It occurs most frequently in adults in their mid-30s to mid-40s and affects men
twice as often as it does women. Most SCDs are caused by abnormal heart rhythms
called arrhythmias with the most common life-threatening arrhythmia being
ventricular fibrillation, which is an erratic, disorganized firing of impulses
from the ventricles (lower chambers of the ticker). When this occurs, the
ticker is unable to pump blood and may lead to death within minutes, if left
untreated.
Emergency treatment for
out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest cases includes cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation. CPR is a life-saving procedure that
combines chest compressions and rescue breaths, it keeps enough oxygen in the
lungs and gets it to the brain until the normal heart rhythm is restored with
an electric shock to the chest (defibrillation). Portable defibrillators used
by emergency personnel, or public access defibrillators can help save a
person’s life.
Every individual should be CPR
trained. Make sure to select an accredited training center for acquiring
training such as the AHA certified CPR Memphis in Tennessee. There are courses
for both healthcare and non-healthcare providers. Here’s some information on a
“PALS class Memphis”:
Pediatric Advanced Life Support Classes- The class begins with
basic life support and CPR testing for 1 and 2 rescuers on child and infant.
Recognizing and managing respiratory emergencies, intubation, intravenous and
intra-osseous vascular access are also covered in detail. The class culminates
with actual PALS cases and a final written examination. At the end of the class,
become eligible for a two-year AHA certification.
SCA occurs without any prior
symptoms in over half of the cases. An individual may experience a racing
heartbeat, a feeling of dizziness that may indicate potentially dangerous
ticker rhythm problem has begun.
Arrhythmia Treatments:
1. Apart from
medication treatments, ablation treatments for arrhythmia can be done for
different reasons. For example, atrial fibrillation ablation involves creation
of small scars to break up the electrical signals that cause the irregular
heartbeats in a condition known as Atrial Fibrillation.
2. Electrical
Cardioversion is an electric shock treatment for arrhythmia which is a planned
treatment that delivers a high-energy shock to reset a normal heartbeat rhythm.
Keep in mind that the electric shock used in electrical cardioversion is not as
strong as the one used in defibrillation.
3. Last, but
not the least comes implantable arrhythmia treatments that involve surgical
implantation of devices that monitor, synchronize, and/or reset the heart
rhythm.
Hope, you find this information to
be useful.
Comments
Post a Comment