What, exactly, are palpitations?
143914
its when you feel your heart beating to hard and could sometimes be a bit painful but not always .
1165593
If what you were wearing was a holter monitor, No!\nIn the 24 hours that you wear this, something must appear in the reading as abnormal. If nothing showed up as abnormal, and you're  still concerned, you should let your Cardiologist know that you are still uncomfortabe with the results.Obviously, no one could tell you that your palpitations are benign, in that there could be a few things going on. But, palpitations are very common in all of us. You can't relate these with 'major heart problems', as you ask. Major heart problems are in a different class. In the 24 hours that you wore this monitor, an event had to take place in this time. What are the chances of this, again, no one really knows.You can't expect even an educated guess here. What you're experiencing cannot go any further in a forum like this. The question is obtuse and requires your presense, your medical history, and your current symptoms.\n\nEssentially, you need to speak to your doc. Further, please don't ASK or ANSWER medical questions online. You will find, as you already have, that you'll get answers from laymen who think they know what they're talking about and being a layman yourself, you may mistakably take their advise. In this, you could be asking for big problems. I would be happy to answer questions you may have in giving you medical direction. Feel free to contact me. \n\nGrizz\n\nP.S. If you(audience) are not educated in this field, DO NOT answer medical questions in this forum. If you do, you are far from realizing that you may be putting people in danger. This is not the place for opinion, or personal experience regardless of your SINCERE intentions.
312922
Yes, in that they disturb the proper function of the heart in terms of how much blood it can pump out.\n\nArrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm. It may mean that the whole heart is beating too fast (tachycardia) or too slow (bradycardia), or it may be that the different bits of the heart have gotten out of synch with each other. The heart has four chambers: two small atria, and two larger ventricles. The ventricles push the blood out of the heart - the right to the lungs, where it gets oxygen and then comes back to the heart, and the left to the body. The atria collect the blood and dump it into the ventricles.\n\nNormally all the muscle of the atrium contracts at once, to push blood into the ventricle, while the ventricle is relaxed. Then the ventricle contracts to push the blood out of the heart, while the atrium is relaxed. In both atria and ventricles, you can get problems with either a) the whole thing contracting at once, like normal, but too fast, or b) the muscle of the chamber (atrium or ventricle) gets disorganized and starts contracting all at different times, so it wibbles around and can't push blood out properly.\n\nThe former is called tachycardia or flutter; in the atria it's atrial flutter (rate 250-350 typically, as opposed to normal heart rate 60-100), in ventricles, usually ventricular tachycardia (rate around 150-200). The latter is called fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is not a huge deal but can predispose to stroke (because the inefficient contractions of the atrium mean blood hangs around in them, and can form blood clots, that then get spat out into the brain). Ventricular fibrillation, on the other hand, is immediately life-threatening and is what people get shocked for during resuscitation events.\n\nSo, although the heart muscle may be functional, the abnormal pacing means that the heart function itself is inefficient.
468039
reaction of your sympathic system :D\nhormones are funny things, huh?
464803
It depends on how often you are having them, and what brings them on.  The cause could be anything from serious to just too much caffeine (coke or coffee?)  I have noticed that excitement, stress,  or hot weather may also have an effect on having them.\nYou should see a dr. to rule out any serious cause.  There are medications you can take to regulate the heartbeat so that you aren't aware of the palpitations.  To a certain extent, everyone has them once in a while and it is considered normal.
1115590
Your heart has signals that travel to it telling it when to beat.  The things that signal are called nerves, which you probably know, but I am going to explain how I look at it.  The nerves have high  sodium (Na+) on the outside (making it positive).  On the inside of the nerve axon, there are high levels of potassium (K+) (making it negative).  The "inside" and "outside" are seperated by a membrane which has gates and channels that allow the K+ to move out and the Na+ to move in.  When the "charge" changes enough in the axon of the nerve, you get a signal sent "down the line".   If you are low in K+, the signals can't work right because enough K+ doesn't move in/Na+ doesn't move out to cause a signal or signals at the wrong time.  Your heart gets out of sync and things get all messed up, arrhythmias and such.
96976
rapid and/or irregular heartbeat, dizziness, headache, shortness of breath, sleeplessness, tremors, nausea, nervousness, tingling sensations, chest pain, noticeable changes in behavior, loss of consciousness, or other similar symptoms
106639
electric pulses. everything in our body is controled by electricity. thats why you can start or stop a heart with electronic shock.
305505
Whenever you listen to your favourite tunes or something which means a lot to you (someone praises you),feel-good hormones ( i think it is called seratonin) are released. They probably cause the associated chills and goosebumps.
461189
Also known as SVTs, it describes a very rapid heart rate. It would be helpful to know the underlying rhythm (ie: atrial flutter, atrial tachycardia, etc...) If you find out, post this question again. It would be helpful to know a few other things about you, so I'll have to give a broad answer. The heart is unique tissue that beats when it receives electrical impulses (you may have seen actors who pose as "dead patients" on t.v. get "shocked" in the ER with electricity to help their hearts beat again). With SVTs, a part of your heart gets "excited" and starts to shoot off it's own electrical impulses, which can cause the heart to beat out of rhythm, and very fast. You should see a cardiologist and have a few tests such as a 12-Lead EKG, 2d echo, holter monitor, blood & thyroid tests, and possibly a stress test. Many young females get SVTs, which is usually harmless and do not cause any longterm problems. These cases can be treated with simple lifestyle modifications that can minimize attacks (such as sleeping better, reducing stress and eliminating caffeine products). Patients can do Valsalva manuevers to stop SVTs. As far as alternative, homeopathic, etc... there are no products that have shown evidence in successfully treating SVTs. If you ever find that your SVTs won't stop, you may get dizzy, get chest pain and your cardiac output will fall and you can pass out. Have someone dip your face/head in a bucket of ice-cold water (the mammalian diving reflex) and call 911. Medications, ablation, cardioversion, etc... are reserved for advanced cases. These patients may be older or have other cardiac issues going on. Or they can get SVTs before or after a heart attack due to changes that occurs in a part of the heart called the "Atrium". I hope I was able to answer some of your questions...
400170
Irregular heart beat is called ARRHYTHMIA's\n\ntypes include :\nExtrasystole\nventricular premature contractions\nAtrial fibrillation\nAtrial Flutter \nComplete heart block\n\nBut murmurs are the sounds heared over the heart because of any disturbed BLOOD FLOW either due to irregular beats or incompetent valves
429801
the heart generates its own electrical impulses to stimulate the heart to beat . It is the SA node in the atria and the AV node in the ventricles. \n\nWhen patients have been diagnosed as brain dead - and on a ventilator ( a breathing machine )  - their heart is still beating - because the heart has its own built-in battery pack, so to speak .
461402
Tachycardia is defined as a sustained heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute. There can be several causes and the treatments reflect these. \n\nFrom a hospital view: When patients become tachy, one must look at the whole picture of health to determine the cause. Is the patient dehydrated? Is the patient having a severe anxiety attack? Is there something more serious causing this? What medications is the patient taking? What are his/her electrolyte levels? What is the person's underlying heart rhythm; Ventricular Tachycardia, Atrial Tachycardia, Atrial Fibrillation with Rapid Ventricular Rate, Wolff Parkinson White....? What is the person's medical history? The solution MUST reflect the cause. The goal is to CONVERT the heart rhythm back to Normal Sinus.\n\nIf the cause of the tachycardia must be controlled by medicine only (not dehydration), some possible options are Adenosine, Diltiazem, Esmolol, Lidocaine, and Mag Sulfate (Torsades). If patients do not respond to chemical cardioversion, then the medical staff may attempt electrical cardioversion. If this does not solve the issue, they may even schedule ablation (a surgical procedure that is designed to eliminate accessory pathways of electrical current in the heart). The patient may even leave the hospital with an implanted defibrillator. The majority of patients, once heart rate is controlled, leave on a maintenance medication such as Cardizem CR daily.
918394
The word '(to) palpitate' has two meanings :\n\n1 If someone's heart palpitates, it beats very fast and irregularly because they are frightened or anxious. Example - Her heart began to palpitate when she heard the news.\n\n2 If something palpitates, it trembles or moves quickly backwards and forwards, or seems to move in this way. Example - In the crowded courtroom, the silence palpitated with the frustration of people powerless to do anything.
509937
PVC's are generally benign. They are typically caused by caffeine intake, certain medications such as decongestant use, increased stress, lack of sleep are potential triggers. If you are continually worried about the PVC's and palpitations reducing your stress and practicing relaxation techniques may help to reduce them. \nIf you feel your concerns are being ignored you need to go to another provider. Keep in mind he is essentially working for you and you can "fire" him at any time. \nIf you have a family history of cardiac problems that needs to be taken into account. \nUnfortunately medicine is not an exact science.
259472
ELECTRICAL IMPULSES sent down by "nodes" thru conducting pathways towards the atria and ventricles.......these atria and vents r made of muscles which contract on recievin the electrical shocks........and thats when the blood moves forward\nwhen their is no impulse being sent forward........the chambers of the heart relax and get filled with blood.....\n\njust waiting for the next impulse to come by and the heart contracts again\n\nthis goes on n on till u die!
108453
Usually three electrodes, more or less, are stuck to your chest, and connected to a recorder.  You do your thing as normally as you can during the day, and the recorder makes a record of the electrical activity of your heart: it is like having an EKG that lasts 20 or more hours.\n\nThe data from that recorder is run through a machine that analyzes each beat electronically, and summarizes what it sees.  Often, what the machine is constructed to consider worth the effort, is displayed too--specific records of sequences of beats that are possibly interesting.\n\nThe point is to catch abnormal rhythms of the heart, and to see if there is any electrical activity that indicates an impoverishment of the blood flow to a part of your heart.  Since the person wearing the Holter writes down any symptom and when they have it, the monitor can be cross-checked with what the person is doing and feeling at any given time.\n\nDoes that help?