Brachycardia
Brachycardia is a condition in which the heart beats at a rate that is below normal, below 65 beats per minute. Brachycardia affects older patients and can be caused and linked by certain prescribed medications. Medications that lower heart rate might cause a form of brachycardia called sinus brachycardia.
Diagnosis
– Doctors observing patients with brachycardia usually try to use two tests to
be concise in their decisions. The
first test a doctor might perform would be an ECG or an electrocardiogram. This ECG would tell the doctor if there were
any abnormalities in the heart. The
second test is the blood gas work-up.
The blood gas work-up, would tell medical professionals if certain blood
gasses were causing the supposed brachycardia.
Treatment
– Treatment for brachycardia or sinus brachycardia is quite simple. Doctors might start a regiment of heart rate
increasing drugs. These drugs would
increase the SA node signals and cause the heart to beat faster. Doctors could also prescribe an artificial
pacemaker, or stop/change the regiment of drugs the patient is already taking.
Signs
and Symptoms –
Fatigue
Decreased
exercise
Hypertension
Slower
than normal heart and respiration rates
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