What should I do if my heart beats slowly?

The heart beats an average number of times per minute. If the heart beats too slowly, you should pay attention to the causes. Especially if there are some uncomfortable symptoms, you must go to the hospital for a comprehensive examination. For example, sinus bradycardia can also affect the heart's beat.

The first type is vagus nerve hyperfunction. There is a nerve center in the medulla oblongata of the brain that regulates cardiovascular activity. This center can both inhibit and accelerate the heartbeat. The vagus nerve is the nerve fiber emitted by this center that controls functions such as heartbeat. When the vagus nerve is excited, its endings can release a substance called "acetylcholine", which has an inhibitory effect on the heart and slows down the heartbeat. The bradycardia and heart rhythm caused by "hyperthermia" are mostly regular. Although the heartbeat is slow, it is rarely lower than 30-40 beats per minute. It can occur in normal people, including the elderly.

The second type, slow heartbeat is called "sick sinus syndrome", abbreviated as "sick sinus". This is a pathological heart manifestation, and its pathological changes mainly occur in the pacemaker of the heartbeat - the sinoatrial node. The sinoatrial node cannot send impulses well or sends impulses late. Common causes are coronary heart disease, cardiomyopathy and degenerative lesions of the cardiac conduction system in the elderly. Patients with "sick sinus" have a very slow heartbeat, sometimes only 30-40 beats per minute.

The third type is slow heartbeat caused by severe atrioventricular block. That is, the impulse wave originally sent by the pacemaker sinus node cannot be transmitted to the atrioventricular node and is blocked. At this time, the ventricles have to compensate by sending impulses themselves, so the heartbeat is very slow. Once complete atrioventricular block occurs, the heart rate is less than 20 beats per minute, and the brain blood supply is directly affected by the obvious decrease in cardiac output, causing dizziness, even syncope and convulsions. This is a severe attack of Asperger's syndrome. The causes of severe conduction block are mostly organic diseases of the heart itself, such as coronary heart disease, myocardial disease or severe late changes in certain heart diseases. In short, when the heartbeat is slow, the main causes should be considered, such as "hypertension", "sick sinus syndrome" and severe conduction block. A detailed medical history and electrocardiogram can also be used to find the cause of the slow heartbeat, so that treatment can be targeted at the cause.