What are some types of heart arrhythmia? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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When your heart doesn’t beat in its normal regular manner, that’s called an arrhythmia. Johns Hopkins cardiologist and electrophysiologist Hugh Calkins says these abnormalities are classified in various ways.

Calkins: An arrhythmia is when something goes wrong with the normal rhythm of the heart. The electrical impulse may happen too fast, or too slow. Or erratically. A bradyarrhythmia  is a slow heart rhythm. Generally we say that a bradyarrhythmia is when the heart rate is less than 60 but that can be normal if you’re sleeping or resting.  A tachyarrhythmia is when the heart beats too fast. Generally we say over a hundred beats per minute but you can have sinus tachycardia when you exercise and that’s of course normal that’s considered physiologic.  :29

Calkins says medicines, procedures and devices can be used to manage a heartbeat that’s too slow or too fast, but before employing any of these a complete characterization of the arrhythmia is needed. Studies such as a wearable monitor that will record your heart’s activity over a day or two are often used. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.