Arrhythmia Causes – Why Does Arrhythmia Occur?

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Arrhythmia Causes Heart is an organ of the body that pumps blood into the body with the help of its four chambers. This sequence is controlled by a group of cells which are responsible for controlling the electrical activities taking place in the heart. When this regular sequence gets disturbed, then arrhythmia occurs.

Thus arrhythmias are abnormal conditions in the heart where they cause the heart to pump blood less effectively. It has been seen that arrhythmia causes the heart to skip a beat or show a condition where there is an extra beat. Some of the arrhythmia cases have proved fatal too.

Arrhythmia Causes

The main causes of arrhythmia could be the following:

Arrhythmia through electrical signals: Sometimes the heart beats and this signal is delayed .This happens when the special nerves which are responsible for producing the electric signals fail to function. Sometimes the electrical signals don’t travel to the heart and the heart lets out signals from another part. This leads to another disruption.
Habits like smoking : Heavy dose of alcohol and use of drugs like cocaine or amphetamines result in an irregular heartbeat. So care has to be taken when it comes to medicines and their usage.
Emotions : Stress and emotions are directly related to the heart. When there is anger then the blood pressure rises and the stress hormones are released. This in turn, affects the heart. Same is for stress.
Health conditions : Sometimes, conditions like a heart attack, high blood pressure, and coronary heart diseases, a heart failure, and thyroid problems result in arrhythmia. A rheumatic heart disease has also been found to be one of the arrhythmia causes.
Congenital arrhythmia : This kind of arrhythmia is present at birth. There are many cases where the causes of arrhythmia cannot be found.
Diet : It has been seen that caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, diet pills are causes of arrhythmia. Cough and cold medicines also have seen to create a kind of palpitation and thus arrhythmia.
Electrolyte imbalance : Electrolytes are substances that have the capacity of conducting electricity. These substances become ions in solution and then get this capacity. They are responsible for the balance of electrolytes in the body. This balance is necessary for normal and regular cell functioning and also functioning of the other organs. Some of the common electrolytes that are measured while testing blood are sodium, potassium, chloride .Excess of sodium causes an imbalance and could prove fatal. A decrease in the level of electrolytes affects the kidney functioning and thus results in constricting the blood vessels and also filling them up with fluid. This leads to irregular heart beat.
Coronary disease : Often this kind of disease is a trigger. This is a trigger because coronary diseases produce a scar in the heart tissues. This upsets the system of transmissions within. These signals are those transmitters which control the rhythm of the heart.
Atherosclerosis : This is also a factor which contributes to arrhythmia. Atherosclerosis is a condition where the walls of the arteries get thick. This happens because the fatty materials like cholesterol build up there. This kind of condition where there is a thickened and fat arterial wall, leads to arrhythmia.

Types of Arrhythmia Causes

Sinus Arrhythmia : This is a type of arrhythmia that is caused due to the cyclic changes while a person breathes. This is not a chronic problem and is often found to be temporary.
Congenital heart defect : Sometimes there are abnormalities in the valves of the heart, there are holes in the heart and there are situations where the blood flows between the heart valves are not normal. These sudden conditions become causes of arrhythmia.
Aortic Sclerosis: Sometimes the valves of the aorta thicken causing scarring and stiffening. Also known as valve calcification, this is one of the arrhythmia causes that are caused due to something involuntary.
Mitral valve prolapse : When the valves of the heart do not close well, then a clicking sound is caused during heartbeats. The valves balloon out instead of closing. Thus these become causes of arrhythmia.
Aortic or Mitral Valve Stenosis : When the mitral valve or the aortic wall, becomes narrow, then it is called an aortic stenosis or mitral valve stenosis. This abnormal condition is normally caused by an infection that could be there right from the birth. This could lead to a heart failure. Thus this is one of the chief important arrhythmia causes.