An introduction to arrhythmias in women

  Although the occurrence of arrhythmias is not directly related to gender, the physiological characteristics of women dictate a complex association between women and arrhythmias. According to modern research, arrhythmias seem to have a tendency to “favor” women, and as a result, there are more and more female patients in clinical practice.  Why do women have a higher incidence of arrhythmias?  Women have a faster heart rate. Studies show that women have a faster average heart rate than men after age 5. The resting heart rate of adult women is on average 3 to 5 beats/min higher than that of men, and the difference in heart rate between men and women is not related to age. Heart rate also varies in women during different physiological periods, with a faster heart rate during pregnancy, the fastest heart rate during the menstrual cycle, and the slowest heart rate during menstruation. The exact mechanism of the sex difference in heart rate is still not fully understood, and sex hormones may be important in influencing heart rate. In addition, estrogen may increase the sensitivity of the specific conduction system of the heart to catecholamines and shorten the effective inactivity of the slow atrioventricular node pathway, resulting in a different frequency of tachycardia in women during the different physiological cycles. The effect of sex hormone levels on the electrophysiological properties of the heart does make arrhythmias in women different from those in men.  The prevalence of phychocardial disorders is much higher in adult women than in men. The disorder not only causes bad moods, but also arrhythmias. Our normal cardiac excitation and rhythmic activity is coordinated by the balance of these two nerves. When they are disturbed, problems arise in the generation and conduction of cardiac impulses, leading to various arrhythmias.  What are the characteristics of arrhythmias in women?  1. 90% of inappropriate sinus tachycardia occurs in young women (especially medical workers), and there is a certain tendency of family inheritance. It is characterized by an inappropriate increase in heart rate during light activity, with intermittent, continuous and restless episodes. 24h average heart rate is >90 beats/min, or more than 100 beats/min in the waking state, and the effect of β-blocker and calcium antagonist treatment is poor. The incidence of atrioventricular nodal foldback tachycardia (AVNRT) caused by dual atrioventricular node pathways is predominantly female (68%), the underlying cause of which is the short duration of the slow pathway in women. The disease is one of the common arrhythmias in pregnancy, mostly congenital conduction pathway abnormalities, and the likelihood of tachycardia episodes before pregnancy or during pregnancy increases; 3. The incidence of atrial fibrillation is higher in men than in women in all age groups. Atrial fibrillation also rarely occurs in women before menopause, and the incidence of atrial fibrillation increases significantly after age 65, which may be related to the antiatrial arrhythmia effect of estradiol. Although the incidence of AF in women is not as high as in men, its clinical course is often more complex, mainly characterized by a faster heart rate during AF episodes, a longer duration (independent of age), a higher recurrence rate and more thromboembolic events. Also with alcohol consumption, women are already at increased risk of AF at lower doses of alcohol intake compared to men.