Why is my heartbeat so slow?

In a normal person's heart, when at rest, it beats 60-100 times per minute. If a person's heart beats less than 60 times per minute, it is called 'bradycardia', also known as 'slow heartbeat'. If you are an athlete, due to regular exercise, your heart's contraction ability is relatively strong, and the amount of blood pumped by the heart with each beat increases, which is enough to meet the needs of various organs in the body, so 50-60 beats per minute is normal. However, if the heartbeat is only 30-40 times per minute, it may be abnormal. This article explains what causes a slow heartbeat.

What does a normal heart look like and how does it function? A normal person's heart is usually about the size of a person's fist. It beats rhythmically in the chest cavity, pumping blood throughout our body. The rhythmic beating of the heart is controlled by the conduction system in the heart that is responsible for controlling the heart rate. A normal person's heart beats 60-100 times per minute in a quiet state. If the heart's conduction system becomes diseased or aged, it will cause the heart to beat too slowly. Bradycardia is not a complicated disease and can usually be detected through an ordinary surface electrocardiogram or a 24-hour dynamic electrocardiogram.

There are usually two reasons for a slow heartbeat: one is the so-called "sick sinus syndrome" in medicine, or sick sinus for short, which is caused by a problem with the sinus node responsible for the heart's rhythm instructions. Sometimes the sinoatrial node only sends 30 heartbeat commands in a minute, sometimes it sends no commands for a few seconds, and sometimes it even has no response for 5-6 seconds. In this case, blood cannot be delivered normally, resulting in insufficient blood supply to the brain, causing dizziness, blacking out, confusion, and even loss of consciousness. The other is caused by atrioventricular block. Atrioventricular block is caused by malfunction of the atrioventricular node and/or conduction bundle, which results in the sinus node command not reaching the ventricles. The ventricles beat slower than the atria. This slower frequency of ventricular beating cannot meet the needs of our body's blood supply, causing symptoms such as dizziness, weakness, and fatigue. In severe cases, loss of consciousness may occur and even be life-threatening.

So how do you treat a slow heartbeat? Slow heartbeat is usually treated with medication and pacemakers. Medication, such as atropine or isoproterenol, can be used to increase the heart rate. However, the effect of drug treatment is unstable. When the dosage is too large, the heart rate may be too fast, and when the dosage is too small, it is difficult to increase the heart rate. In addition, some people are not sensitive to drug treatment, and drug treatment itself may have side effects, which may often cause new arrhythmias or other adverse reactions. Therefore, it is not suitable for long-term treatment and is generally used in emergency situations or for temporary life-saving. Pacemaker treatment: A large number of clinical studies have confirmed that implanting a pacemaker is currently the most effective method for treating slow heartbeat. Pacemakers have a history of nearly 50 years and are now a very mature medical device. They actually consist of two parts. One part is the pacemaker implanted in the body, which contains batteries and circuits. It is actually a small battery-powered computer.