Cardiac arrhythmias resulting from sinus node dysfunction.The following are conditions that produce bradycardia that requires treatment: In fact, in most people, bradycardia does not require treatment unless patients have symptoms that are clearly due to a slow heartbeat. In most cases, bradycardia in healthy, well-trained athletes does not need to be treated. When bradycardia occurs as a side effect of medication, the problem can be prevented by either switching the drug or reducing its dose. ![]() There are no general guidelines to prevent all forms of bradycardia. Certain forms of bradycardia resulting from cardiac arrhythmias can be cured with a permanent pacemaker. Bradycardia caused by hypothyroidism will go away quickly after treatment with thyroid hormones. When bradycardia occurs as a side effect of medication, it usually will go away as soon as the drug that triggered the bradycardia is used by the body or excreted in the urine. For example, normal bradycardia in a well-trained athlete will last as long as the athlete maintains his or her usual level of exercise. How long bradycardia lasts depends on its cause. For example, if you have symptoms and physical signs of hypothyroidism, your doctor will order a blood test to measure your thyroid function. You will be instructed to press a button to record your EKG reading if and when symptoms occur.ĭepending on the results of your physical examination, other tests may be necessary to check for medical illnesses that produce bradycardia. During this test, the patient wears a portable device that monitors your heart rate and electrical pattern. If this is the case, a test called ambulatory electrocardiography may be done. However, because some forms of bradycardia come and go, a one-time office EKG may be normal. To further evaluate your bradycardia, your doctor will order an electrocardiogram (EKG). Your doctor also will check for physical signs of thyroid abnormalities, including an enlarged thyroid gland, very dry skin, and hair that is thin and dry. You may be asked to exercise in the office to see if your heart rate rises appropriately. He or she also will review your current symptoms and your personal medical history, including your use of medications that may cause bradycardia.ĭuring the physical examination, your doctor will check your heart rate and rhythm, and your pulse. Your doctor will ask about your family history of heart disease, cardiac arrhythmias and fainting spells. For example, people whose bradycardia is due to severe hypothyroidism also can have constipation, muscle cramps, weight gain (often despite poor appetite), very dry skin, hair that is thin and dry, an abnormal sensitivity to cold temperatures and other symptoms related to low levels of thyroid hormones. If bradycardia is caused by a medical illness, there will be additional symptoms that are specific to that illness. When it does, it can cause dizziness, weakness, lack of energy or fainting spells. An abnormally low body temperature (hypothermia)īradycardia may not cause any symptoms.An underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism).Also, bradycardia sometimes is a side effect of certain medications, including propranolol ( Inderal), atenolol ( Tenormin), metoprolol (Toprol-XL), sotalol ( Betapace), verapamil (Calan, Isoptin, Verelan) and diltiazem ( Cardizem).īradycardia also occurs in some people who have certain medical illnesses not related to the heart, such as: Bradycardia can occur with toxic levels of certain drugs, such as digoxin ( Lanoxin) and narcotics. Cardiac arrhythmia can be caused by a problem in the sinus node, or it can be related to some disturbance in the passage of heartbeat signals through the A-V node and bundle of His. In these people, regular exercise improves the heart's ability to pump blood efficiently, so fewer heart contractions are required to supply the body's needs.īradycardia can be a form of cardiac arrhythmia, a heart-rate abnormality. This triggers a contraction of the ventricles and produces a heartbeat.īradycardia, even as low as 45 - 50 beats per minute, can be normal in athletes and other people who are physically active. ![]() From the sinus node, the heartbeat signal travels to the atrioventricular (A-V) node, located between the atria, and then through the bundle of His (pronounced "hiss") - a series of modified heart-muscle fibers located between the ventricles - to the muscles of the ventricles. Here's what happens during a normal heartbeat: The electrical signal that starts a heartbeat comes from the heart's sinus node, the natural pacemaker located in the upper portion of the right atrium. A normal heartbeat is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Last updated on Mar 14, 2023.īradycardia is traditionally defined as a heart rate of less than 60 beats per minute.
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