Heart question.

I have various heart problem-no pacemaker. Loop recorder was removed last year, useless as far as I am concerned.
 

Robert59 said:
She has a pacemaker and just wondering if someone heart is in excellent condition why would they need a pacemaker?
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The heart itself is a fabulous muscle and may be completely free of heart disease like congestion. However the electrical system that controls the heart beat may be faulty and that's where pacemakers come in. Good luck with that.
 
Camper6 said:
The heart itself is a fabulous muscle and may be completely free of heart disease like congestion. However the electrical system that controls the heart beat may be faulty and that's where pacemakers come in. Good luck with that.
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What makes someone's heart electrical system go bad? This person has Bipolar and is real manic and walked like 8 or more miles everyday and just couldn't stop doing something all the time and rest.
 
Yes, Robert, she needs the pacemaker, and with it, her heart is working well.

It is working other than the rhythm problem.

Many different causes can make the electrical system go off enough, that a pacemaker keeps it going in correct timing.
 
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Kaila said:
Yes, Robert, she needs the pacemaker, and with it, her heart is working well.

It is working other than the rhythm problem.

Many different causes can make the electrical system go off enough, that a pacemaker keeps it going in correct timing.
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Hi, I'm new to this forum, having been browsing through it for a few days, thought perhaps I could put my two cents into this thread as I too am a person ( almost 73 yrs old) with a heart in excellent condition other than an electrical system that stinks. I see the last post was a bit over a month ago, so I hope I am not too late to the party.

I have had cardiac arrhythmias for years, (atrial tachycardia, on medication to control that), but over the last few years developed bradycardia (low heart rate),which got worse and became symptomatic, so I had a pacemaker put in a little over a year ago. It's improved the way I feel, with much more energy, maybe some brain cells back again, and I am so grateful that I had this done.

Still have the tachycardia ( the pacemaker works mainly to keep the heart rate from falling too low, I continue to take medication to keep the tachycardia under control, it does a pretty good job, and allows my "great shape heart" to tick along very well.

When a person has issues with "palpitations", a too fast or slow heart rate, especially if it's an older person, the medical establishment wants to rule out heart disease-including coronary artery disease (plugged up coronary vessels), heart valve problems, heart muscle issues in the ventricles. These can cause the
palpitations and heart rhythm issues, or make them dangerous if the person has heart disease.
So if a person passes tests such as stress tests, echocardiograms, cardiac caths, labs with "flying colors" so shows normal results, cardiologists are likely to tell the person that his/her heart is in great shape physically.

This doesn't rule out "electrical issues" in the heart, which have to do with the passing of "elctrical impulses" from the sinus node in the atrium (upper chambers of the heart), through the atrio-ventrical (AV node)- which I see as sort of a normally one way relay station that passes these signals to the ventricles, for a normally well coordinated heartbeat, approximately 60-100 times per minute.
Even when the heart is physically in good shape, with little or no coronary artery disease, significant valve issues, things can still go wrong with the electrical system.

Since the OP's question was about pacemakers in an otherwise normal heart, that'd be what in the world happens to make someone's heartbeat slow enough to need one. He doesn't say why his friend needed a pacemaker, but there could be a number of reasons.
Sometimes the sinus node (where the signal originates normally) develops scar tissue, which can't generate or transmit the electrical signal effectively or efficiently, so it slows down and the heart rate falls. This generally occurs in older people, but there are a few cases in younger people where it's a genetic thing. In my case, they told me my "sinus bradycardia" (sick sinus syndrome) could well have been caused, or related to long standing uncontrolled high blood pressure which damaged the atrium over time. That even though I was told I had the "coronary arteries of a teenager", and no evidence of other physical issues with my heart.

Then there can be "heart block", in which the electrical signals that get to the AV node are not passed along to the ventricles, causing the heartbeat to slow down, or pause for a number of seconds. How bad this gets-whether the heart just slows down some on occasion, or pauses for long enough to make the person pass out depends on the severity of the blockage.
There are any number of reasons these occur, could be genetic (especially in a young person), age related, sometimes related to medication, other reasons.

Well, that was quite a long post. Now I need a nap! That's my old age speaking, LOL.
 
That about covers it Birdlady, I didn't go into all that with Robert as most people who are unfamiliar with the anatomy and physiology of the heart find it difficult to understand how it works. It doesn't occur to most folks that our bodies are machines and run on electrical impulses throughout. Since this machine of ours is like most others, another important thing to take notice of, and that is drinking water. We must keep it hydrated to maintain a certain temperature or we get into trouble. Whenever we fail to neglect any part we suffer changes in blood chemistry and that also plays a big part in the electrical system in us.
 
Lewkat said:
That about covers it Birdlady, I didn't go into all that with Robert as most people who are unfamiliar with the anatomy and physiology of the heart find it difficult to understand how it works. It doesn't occur to most folks that our bodies are machines and run on electrical impulses throughout. Since this machine of ours is like most others, another important thing to take notice of, and that is drinking water. We must keep it hydrated to maintain a certain temperature or we get into trouble. Whenever we fail to neglect any part we suffer changes in blood chemistry and that also plays a big part in the electrical system in us.
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I think it IS hard to imagine the heart as an "electric" entity, sort of like a plug-in or battery operated device. I recall my sister commenting to the cardiologist who told her her heart's electric system was ailing ( she has sick sinus syndrome with a pacemaker like I do), she replied "electrical system, I sure don't remember having to plug it in anywhere!!!!!!". šŸ˜²
 

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