The Sniper From Within

Heart Arrhythmia

Our heart is one of the most important organs in our body, and it’s important to make sure it is healthy. Regular visits with your family doctor will give you peace of mind.

Unbeknownst to most, inside all of us, resides a killer.  This killer has the stealth and cunning, far superior, than any militarily trained sniper.  This killer has a name…

This destroyer of life is called; an “irregular” heart beat.  Our heart is a mass muscle, which directs our blood flow, driven by electrical impulses to sustain our life.  Our sinus node is the mechanism which gives our heart, its natural rhythm.  When the sinus node malfunctions, an abnormal electrical impulse develops.

A person may become dizzy, feel lightheaded, quiver, have shortness of breath, chest discomfort, heart flutters or pounding, and even painful extra beats. Some people may have no symptoms at all. Thus the name arrhythmia arises, (without rhythm), a serious heart condition, up to and including death, if left undiagnosed and untreated.  There are many treatments for these conditions.

There are two major types of arrhythmias.  When the heart beats too quickly; over 100 beats per minute, it is Tachycardia.  When the heart beats too slowly: less than 60 beats per minute, it is Bradycardia.  Other common arrhythmias include A-Fid, or Atrial Fibrillation (irregular heartbeat), and Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome- delayed muscle reaction to the impulse and buildup of additional muscle pathways in the heart muscle.

I am not a physician, but I do have an arrhythmia.  I was born healthy and was athletic growing up, joined the Military and it was never detected.  It wasn’t until my mid-thirties, while employed by United Postal Service, that I went for a mandatory management physical.  It was discovered and deemed mild, nothing to be alarmed about, but I was now self-aware of my condition.

     I urge everyone to get a simple checkup, our love ones deserve to have the best of us; let a physician “take out, the sniper, from within”. May you all live a long life.

Phyllis R. Hurst