Treatment and Prevention
In some cases, arrhythmias are due to bad habits, like drinking too much alcohol. Breaking the habit can cure the problem. In others, the arrhythmias are a symptom of heart disease, and they won't go away unless this deeper problem is tackled. Fortunately, many people can benefit from modern medicine and especially in the area of surgery and the insertion of special electrical devices.
There are several medications that can slow down a rapid heartbeat (known as "rate control"). Beta blockers (e.g., atenolol*, metoprolol) are medications that are very useful for rate control in people with a variety of heart conditions. Often, these medications can be used for more than one purpose (i.e., rate control, high blood pressure as well as for after a heart attack). Another medication, digoxin, is derived from a substance called digitalis that has been used for arrhythmias for over 200 years.
Other medications called antiarrhythmics can convert an abnormal rhythm back to normal, and prevent it from recurring (known as "rhythm control"). Patients with atrial fibrillation are usually given the anticoagulant warfarin, which thins the blood to keep blood clots from forming and causing strokes. Recent research has shown that rate control and adequate anticoagulation are very important (perhaps even more important than rhythm control) to people with certain kinds of arrhythmias (e.g., atrial fibrillation).
Many arrhythmias can be cured outright with radiofrequency ablation. The same tubes used in EPS (see Making the Diagnosis) are inserted into the heart to send radio waves directly onto electrical pathways carrying inappropriate signals, to prevent it from triggering an abnormal heart rhythm.
Artificial pacemakers can take over the job of generating the electrical signals. Once limited to treating slow heart rates, the latest pacemakers can control fast heart rates too. Amazingly, they can run up to 15 years on one battery. Some save power by switching off when the heartbeat is normal. Most units are placed under the skin, requiring very minor surgery.
Defibrillators are devices that restart arrested hearts with jolts of electricity to the chest. Defibrillators are effective at stopping ventricular fibrillation, but since ventricular fibrillation can be fatal in less than four minutes, they are most useful when used early. Most defibrillators are external devices, but now there are automatic implantable cardiovertors/defibrillators (AICD). These miracles of miniaturization can be as small as pacemakers. They can detect a dangerous fibrillation and jolt the heart back to normality before any harm is done. As one doctor puts it, "it's like having an emergency room implanted in your chest."
*All medications have both common (generic) and brand names. The brand name
is what a specific manufacturer calls the product (e.g., Tylenol®).
The common name is the medical name for the medication (e.g., acetaminophen).
A medication may have many brand names, but only one common name. This article
lists medications by their common names. For more information on brand names,
speak with your doctor or pharmacist.