Fast heartbeat and chest pain

Many elderly people are afraid to run or walk briskly. If they speed up, they will feel short of breath, and even have chest pain due to rapid heartbeat. These are the symptoms of arrhythmia that we know of. Arrhythmia often occurs in middle-aged and elderly people, which means the heartbeat is too fast or too slow. Because of the irregularity, it is life-threatening. Therefore, if you have a rapid heartbeat and chest pain, you should pay attention to rest and seek medical attention.

What is an arrhythmia?

Arrhythmia does not only mean that the heart beats too fast or too slow, but also includes that the heart beats irregularly. The reasons are: the origin point of the heartbeat is abnormal, the speed or path of electrical signal transmission inside the heart is abnormal, and the order in which various parts of the heart are excited is disordered. In medicine, arrhythmia refers to abnormalities in the frequency, rhythm, origin, conduction velocity or activation order of cardiac impulses. How is normal heart rhythm formed? To understand arrhythmia, we must first know how normal heart rhythm is produced. There is a unique conduction system in our heart that controls the beating of the heart. In this system, signals are sent from the highest command center, the "signal generator" - the sinoatrial node, to the "signal relay station" - the atrioventricular node and the "cables" - the atrioventricular bundle and the His bundle - the "cables" bifurcate into left and right bundle branches and Purkinje fibers. Finally, the signal reaches the myocardial cells, and the heart can contract and relax regularly.

Under normal circumstances, the sinoatrial node releases signal impulses according to a certain pattern. This signal will first be transmitted to the surrounding atrial tissue, and then to the atrioventricular node through the interatrial bundle and atrial muscle. The signal will produce a brief delay in the atrioventricular node and then be transmitted downward to the His bundle, followed by the left and right bundle branches and Purkinje fibers. The signal is transmitted extremely quickly in the left and right bundle branches and Purkinje fibers, which makes the left and right ventricles excited at the same time and completes a cardiac cycle.

How do arrhythmias occur?

The mechanisms of arrhythmia can be divided into abnormal impulse generation and abnormal impulse conduction. (1) Abnormal impulse generation - that is, there is a problem with the release of ECG signals: 1) The problem may be in the sinoatrial node, such as sinus tachycardia, sinus bradycardia, sinus arrhythmia and sinus arrest; 2) The problem may be caused by ECG signals in abnormal locations. Other parts of the heart that can act as backup "signal generators" include the atrioventricular junction or ventricles. If the function of the sinoatrial node is reduced or these backup "generators" are overactive, ectopic ECG signals may be emitted. The former is called passive ectopic rhythm, a single signal is called an escape beat (atrial escape beat, junctional escape beat and ventricular escape beat), and a continuous signal is called an escape rhythm (atrial escape rhythm, junctional escape rhythm and ventricular escape rhythm). The latter is called active ectopic rhythm, including premature contractions (often called premature beats, because of the different sources of this "premature occurrence" they are divided into atrial, junctional, and ventricular) and paroxysmal tachycardia (atrial, junctional, atrioventricular reentry, ventricular) as well as atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation, ventricular flutter and ventricular fibrillation.