The beat that causes the alternating movement of contraction and dilation of the heart is called a heartbeat . The heartbeat can be felt in the chest or in the tissues that cover the arteries.
To pump blood , the heart makes a continuous movement of systole (contracts to expel blood) and diastole (dilates to allow fluid to enter), just like the arteries. This action has repercussions as blows that can be detected by touch, sight and especially through hearing, especially in the pectoral area. These beats are the beats.
It can be said that the heartbeat reveals that the heart is functioning. When a person dies, their heart stops beating.
The regular succession of contraction and dilation is known as heart rate , which must be maintained within certain parameters to be considered normal. This assumes that the heart makes a certain number of beats per minute that is taken as standard or healthy: if more or fewer beats are detected, it may be a symptom of some type of disorder or health problem, although it depends on whether the subject you are at rest or doing physical activity.
When the heartbeat is too fast, and there are more than a hundred beats per minute, it is a condition of tachycardia . On the other hand, if the heartbeat is very slow, it is called bradycardia .
Tachycardia, therefore, is an increase in the frequency of heartbeats that represents too high a speed in the contraction of the ventricles. It is important to note that the number of beats per minute that is associated with tachycardia requires that the subject be in a resting state.
Regarding the causes of tachycardia, we can distinguish between physiological and pathological. In the first group are physical efforts and highly intense emotions, such as fear, stress, anxiety or nervousness due to issues that are very difficult to overcome. When, however, it is of a pathological origin, it can be linked to insomnia, anemia, bleeding, depression , an infection or kidney failure, among other problems.
On the other hand, we have bradycardia , which at first glance is the opposite situation to tachycardia: it implies a number of beats per minute less than sixty or that the sinus node stops acting and in its place the atrioventricular node arises, to emit a minimum of forty-five and a maximum of fifty-five beats per minute.
Bradycardia generally indicates underlying heart disease, although it may be a symptom of brain damage. However, other times it can be a sign that alerts us of an imminent heart attack. No matter whether the subject is an athlete or a young person, an evaluation is recommended to rule out injuries of chemical or infectious origin and also congenital problems.
The alteration of the usual rhythm of the heartbeat is known as arrhythmia . Among the most common causes are potassium insufficiency, heart attack, congenital diseases, enlarged heart, and hyperthyroidism. Regarding its symptoms, we can mention chest pain, fainting, vertigo, dizziness, paleness, difficulty breathing and sweating.
Arrhythmia includes tachycardia and bradycardia, but also an irregular rhythm of beats per minute. Broadly speaking, we can say that one of the options is that it does not cause any harm, while it could also be a dangerous situation that must be treated urgently or the sign of some other heart problem.