FLUTTERING OF HEART

Heart palpitations feelings of having a fast-beating, fluttering or pounding heart. Stress, exercise, medication or, rarely, a medical condition can trigger them.

Although heart palpitations can be worrisome, they're usually harmless. Rarely, heart palpitations can be a symptom of a more serious heart condition, such as an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), that might require treatment.

SYMPTOMS: -

Heart palpitations can feel like the heart is:

• Beating too fast
• Flip-flopping
• Fluttering rapidly
• Pounding
• Skipping beats
• Heart palpitations may be felt in the throat or neck as well as the chest. They can occur during activity or at rest.

CAUSES:-

Often the cause of heart palpitations can't be found. Common causes include:

• Strong emotional responses, such as stress, anxiety or panic attacks
• Depression
• Strenuous exercise
• Stimulants, including caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines, and cold and cough medications that contain pseudoephedrine
• Fever
• Hormone changes associated with menstruation, pregnancy or menopause
• Too much or too little thyroid hormone
• Occasionally heart palpitations can be a sign of a serious problem, such as an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia).

Arrhythmias might cause a very fast heartbeat (tachycardia), an unusually slow heartbeat (bradycardia), a heartbeat that varies from a typical heart rhythm or a combination of the three.

RISK FACTORS: -

Risk factors for heart palpitations include:

• Stress
• Anxiety disorder or panic attack
• Pregnancy
• Certain medicines that contain stimulants, such as some cold or asthma medications
• An overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism)

Other heart problems, such as irregular heartbeats, structural heart changes, previous heart attack or previous heart surgery

COMPLICATIONS

For palpitations caused by a heart condition, possible complications may include:

Fainting. If the heart beats rapidly, blood pressure can drop, causing the person to faint. This is more likely in those with a heart problem, such as congenital heart disease or certain valve problems.

Cardiac arrest. Rarely, palpitations can be caused by life-threatening heartbeat problems and can cause the heart to stop beating effectively.

Stroke. If palpitations are due to a condition in which the upper chambers of the heart quiver instead of beating properly (atrial fibrillation), blood can pool and cause clots to form. If a clot breaks loose, it can block a brain artery, causing a stroke.

Heart failures. Certain arrhythmias can reduce the heart's pumping ability. Sometimes, controlling the rate of an arrhythmia that's causing heart failure can improve the heart's function.

HOMEOPATHIC MANAGEMENT: -

The medicines that can be thought of use are:-

• Nat mur
• Ferrum met
• Digitalis
• Spigelia
• Aurum met