The medical word for palpitations is arrhythmia (pronounced ‘ay-rithme-ar’) meaning a change in the beating rhythm of the heart. All of us feel the heart pounding away when we have to run for a bus, have seen an exciting film or had a fright: this is the normal response to exertion or excitement which causes the adrenaline in the blood to increase and stimulate the heart to beat faster. Being aware of the heartbeat, when there is no obvious explanation, can be alarming and lead to anxiety and panic, all of which makes the situation worse.
What doctors mean by palpitations is an undue awareness of the heartbeat. People see it in less matter-of-fact terms: ‘missed beats’, ‘big beats’, ‘pounding’, ‘fluttering’, ‘as if my heart was going to jump out of my chest’ are some of my patients’ descriptions. Underlying these sensations the questions really bothering people are:
• Am I going to die?
• Will I have a heart attack?
• Will my heart stop beating?
• Will it damage me?
First, it is very rare for any form of palpitations to be dangerous or life-threatening. It is true that they are frightening and the fear can make them worse, but, for most people, all they have to fear is the fear, because palpitations do not usually mean disease.
For the vast majority of people, palpitations are just one of the ways that stresses and strains on the body show themselves, so they tend to be more common in people experiencing stress at home or work, in those with family anxieties and in those who are run down or overworked.
