The Connection Between Diabetes and Heart Arrhythmias

The human heart beats roughly 3 billion times during the course of an average lifetime. Every single time it beats, blood is drawn into its two upper chambers, held there briefly by a network of valves, and then pumped out forcefully through its two lower chambers. This drawing-and-pumping action ensures that about six liters of freshly oxygenated blood leaves the heart and enters the bloodstream every minute—a volume that can rise to more than 35 liters per minute when someone is exercising. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But none of that can happen unless the heart’s complicated machinery—its assorted valves and muscles and electrical circuitry—is working in harmony. When that harmony breaks down, the heart can pump too fast or too slow, or it can lose coordination among its various chambers. This breakdown is known as an arrhythmia, and it can lead to complications ranging from fatigue or shortness of breath to a heart attack or stroke. “When we say arrhythmia, we literally mean the heart is out of rhythm,” says Dr. Jonathan Piccini, a cardiologist and arrhythmia specialist at Duke University Medical Center. He compares the heart’s operation to a symphony orchestra. “If someone was playing off the wrong sheet of music or if their instrument were out of tune, that would not be subtle. It would be profoundly disruptive,” he says. “The same is true of a heart arrhythmia.” Heart arrhythmi...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Source Type: news