Heartbeat refers to the beating of the heart. In medicine, the number of heartbeats per minute is called the heart rate. Normally, an adult’s heart rate is 60-100 beats per minute, which is diagnosed as sinus rhythm by electrocardiogram. Below 60 beats, the ECG diagnosis is sinus bradycardia; above 100 beats, the diagnosis is sinus tachycardia. Some people are still healthy people despite the ECG diagnosis of sinus bradycardia, such as: people who regularly engage in physical labor or regularly participate in physical exercise, athletes, and others who are congenital. Patients with coronary artery disease who suddenly become very slow heartbeats need to be seen in a timely manner. There are also people who are born with a fast heartbeat. Generally, women have a fast heartbeat and men have a slow heartbeat. In addition, in some special cases, the heartbeat will be faster, such as: after meals, after drinking alcohol or coffee, strong tea, during activities or labor, nervousness, excitement, etc. Some diseases can also cause a faster heartbeat, such as: fever, anemia, hyperthyroidism, etc. These all belong to sinus tachycardia. If there is no reason to feel panic on your own, you need to visit a hospital to clarify whether any of these diseases are present. There are also many other abnormal heartbeats, medically known as arrhythmias. Some of the more common ones are: premature beats, atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia, atrioventricular block, etc. All of these conditions require an electrocardiogram or ambulatory electrocardiogram at the time of the attack to confirm the diagnosis. The following are some of the more common arrhythmias one by one: 1. Premature beats Premature beats are a common arrhythmia. Patients often describe the occurrence of premature beats as a feeling that the heart has stopped or a choking sensation in the chest. There are many reasons for the appearance of premature beats, but there are no more than two: one is functional, indicating that there is no obvious disease in the heart itself, and many precipitating factors cause the heart to have premature beats, such as poor sleep, stress, exertion, mood swings, and alcohol consumption. Usually, after eliminating these triggers, the premature beats will disappear. If they do not disappear or are very frequent, it is necessary to go to the hospital for an electrocardiogram or ambulatory electrocardiogram to find out the type of premature beats and then decide on the medication; another situation is that the heart itself has a disease or there are many risk factors for coronary heart disease, plus some triggers for premature beats. Secondly, an ultrasound of the heart should be done. For people with underlying heart disease, frequent premature beats can seriously affect the heart’s pumping capacity, and in coronary heart patients, can lead to life-threatening ventricular tachycardia. 2, atrial fibrillation The triggers of atrial fibrillation are: exertion, staying up late, excitement, heavy alcohol consumption, etc. It can be seen in normal people, but also in people with hypertension, coronary heart disease, cardiomyopathy, hyperthyroidism, diabetes and other diseases. Atrial fibrillation can be paroxysmal, and is usually seen in the early stages of atrial fibrillation or in normal people. In atrial fibrillation, the heart beats irregularly, both in terms of strength and rhythm. Therefore, when atrial fibrillation occurs, the patient may feel particularly panicky, and people with coronary artery disease may also experience angina pectoris. If the underlying heart disease is present, the heart structure is altered, and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation is not treated in a timely manner, it will sooner or later become persistent atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation, whether episodic or persistent, should be taken seriously because it has many complications: (1) embolism: the most serious complication of atrial fibrillation, because when atrial fibrillation, the atria are fibrillating at a rate of 350 to 600 times per minute, so that thrombus is easily formed in the atria, and the thrombus is easily dislodged, and after it is dislodged, it will be pumped out of the heart with the blood into the arteries, resulting in blockage of the blood vessels, which is usually called embolism. It is the usual embolism, usually the wall thrombus is in the left atrium, and the left atrial wall thrombus can lead to cerebral embolism, limb artery embolism, mesenteric artery embolism, etc. (2) Heart failure: Since the heartbeat is irregular both in terms of strength and rhythm, this will seriously affect the heart pumping blood, and the patient will feel weak, dizzy, chest tightness and shortness of breath when moving. (3) Angina: Patients with coronary heart disease are prone to angina during atrial fibrillation episodes, which can lead to acute myocardial infarction in severe cases. Therefore, if you suffer from atrial fibrillation, a disease with arrhythmia, you must pay attention to it and go to the hospital in time to do auxiliary examinations such as dynamic electrocardiogram and cardiac ultrasound. If there is no underlying heart disease, frequent episodes of atrial fibrillation always occur without a trigger, and cardiac ultrasound suggests normal heart structure, radiofrequency ablation can be considered. Excessive duration of atrial fibrillation leading to changes in the structure of the heart can delay the surgery. After early detection, it can also be converted to sinus rhythm with drugs. 3, supraventricular tachycardia Patients with this arrhythmia have more and more frequent attacks as they get older, and most of the attacks are triggered by stress, exertion, etc. Some people have sudden attacks without triggers, which manifest as sudden panic attacks, accompanied by chest tightness, sweating, etc. They are afraid to move around, and the duration is variable and terminates suddenly. Everything returns to normal after the termination of the panic attack. If you have such a history, you should go to the hospital as early as possible, and you can have radiofrequency ablation, and you will not have any more attacks after the procedure. If not treated in time, frequent attacks and too long duration may easily lead to heart failure or angina pectoris. 4, atrioventricular block is divided into three degrees: one degree of atrioventricular block patients usually have no symptoms, generally do not need treatment, avoid the application of drugs that cause the heart rate to slow down or affect atrioventricular conduction. If a patient has coronary artery disease and suddenly develops first-degree AV block, the presence of acute ischemia in the coronary arteries should be taken seriously and treated promptly at the hospital; second-degree AV block may show symptoms such as palpitations and chest tightness. Third-degree AV block can present with weakness. Symptoms such as fatigue, syncope, angina pectoris, heart failure, etc. can be serious and life-threatening. When second or third degree AV block occurs, it is important to go to the hospital in time to avoid delay. Often people say that they feel their heart is beating, here contains several meanings: one is the feeling of a strong heartbeat, there is also the feeling of a fast heartbeat, and there is another situation is the feeling of an irregular heartbeat. After reading this article, you can check yourself. If you feel that your heart is beating hard but not fast, especially if you can hear your heart beating when you are lying on your side, this is not a big problem; if your heart is beating too fast or irregularly, please go to the hospital for an electrocardiogram or ambulatory electrocardiogram in order to understand the nature of the arrhythmia and use medication in time.