Sunday noon, I got a frantic phone call and all I heard was “V-tach” short for Ventricular Tachycardia, a life-threatening condition. I thought: “Oh God, please make my aunt Remy live. She’s too young to die!” I felt weak as I remembered my mom suffering from the same condition and being confined in the ICU for weeks until we finally found a Cardiac Electrophysiologist who was able to correctly diagnose and treat her condition. Doctors specializing on this heart condition come few and far between in our country.
Think of the human heart as a peaceful two-storey home made of four rooms called heart chambers. The “parents” give orders from the “second floor” and the “children” take orders from the “first floor.” Each regular heartbeat starts with electric signals sent by the sinoatrial node or “the parents from the second floor.” V-tach occurs when the “children in the first floor” rebel and start firing electric signals causing a fast heart rate. The heart doesn’t have enough time to fill with blood thus failing to pump blood throughout the body.
Normal heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute. My mom and aunt both had 200 plus beats per minute! Common symptoms are dizziness, lightheadedness, unconsciousness and cardiac arrest which happens when the heart stops pumping blood effectively.
V-tach has various causes such as lack of oxygen in the heart due to some blockage or decreased coronary artery blood flow, distortion of the heart’s structure or cardiomyopathy, medications and inflammatory disease. It can also be idiopathic or unknown.
How can you mend a broken heart?
There are various modes of treatment but I will just talk about the one I’m familiar with since my mom had undergone this procedure years ago. According to the American Heart Association, Transcatheter Ablation is rapidly becoming the treatment of choice. A team of doctors conducts an electrophysiologic study to find the “rebellious children from the first floor” that’s causing chaos. A catheter or a long cord is inserted all the way to the heart. This allows the doctors to find and silence the “rebellious children” by performing electrocautery. Have you ever tried having facial warts removed by your dermatologist using cautery? Go figure.
V-tach is a type of arrhythmia or heart rhythm problems causing the heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly. It is often caused or worsened by a weak or damaged heart. the Mayo Clinic recommends a heart-healthy lifestyle to reduce risk of arrhythmia.
——————————————————
“Adapt a heart-healthy lifestyle by eating heart-friendly foods that are low in saturated fat and cholesterol; high in fiber; high in Omega-3; rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium. Regularly eat whole grains, soy products, non-fat dairy products, fatty fishes, fruits and vegetables.
Avoid substances that may cause irregular heartbeat: caffeine and alcoholic beverages; tobacco, appetite suppressants; and street drugs.”
Be healthy, be heart-friendly!
For comments and suggestions: email [email protected] or visit [email protected]. Twitter: CheshireQue.
Leave a Reply