Is sinus tachycardia dangerous?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Dr. Nguyen Van Duong - Interventional Cardiologist - Cardiovascular Center - Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital. The doctor has many years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

1. Sinus tachycardia

The sinus node is a structure in the heart that functions as the body's natural pacemaker, helping to generate electrical impulses and allowing the heart to pump blood to other organs for nourishment. Sinus rhythm in a normal person without any disease is in the range of 60-100 beats/min, however in some unusual cases and certain stimuli cause the heart rate to increase above 100 beats/min. can even be 200 beats/min in children and 150 beats/min in the elderly called sinus tachycardia.

When there is a state of sinus tachycardia, the patient may clinically manifest symptoms such as dizziness, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, fatigue, palpitations, tremors in the limbs, constipation or urinary incontinence... When the patient has sinus tachycardia, the heart beat is faster than normal, especially at night when going to bed, accompanied by shortness of breath due to the formation of blood clots in the lungs, dizziness and fatigue due to anemia. provide to the brain and some other symptoms as above. In different patients, sinus tachycardia will also manifest differently, which can be very noticeable, but also when clinical symptoms are poor and difficult to detect in time, so close monitoring is necessary. health status so that as soon as there are suspicious symptoms, immediately go to a medical facility for examination, diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible, avoiding unwanted complications later.

2. How many types of sinus tachycardia?

Clinically, there can be 2 conditions of sinus tachycardia: normal sinus tachycardia, or physiological sinus tachycardia and abnormal sinus rhythm, ie pathological sinus tachycardia.

Physiological fast sinus rhythm Physiological sinus tachycardia occurs when people practice sports, have angry emotions, stress and anxiety in life... making the heart beat faster than normal but will become normal. return to the initial state very quickly without the need for therapeutic action. Some other conditions that also cause physiological tachycardia are fever, medication side effects, drinking too much caffeine or taking too much nicotine or stimulants that also make the heart beat suddenly.
Pathological Sinus Tachycardia Pathological Sinus Tachycardia is defined as a state of rapid sinus rhythm in cases where the patient is resting and not performing vigorous activities but still has symptoms of a pounding heart and difficulty breathing. Some signs that the patient is having a pathological sinus tachycardia condition are shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, fainting, headache, feeling nervous and anxious... Causes of sinus rhythm The pathology is very diverse, it can be abnormalities in the sinus node such as abnormal nerve conduction or due to damage to the cardiac nerves. Some diseases that can have sinus tachycardia are hypertension, coronary artery disease, stenosis of the heart valves, congenital heart scars...

3. Is sinus tachycardia dangerous?

If sinus tachycardia is not detected and treated early, it can lead to dangerous complications for the body such as stroke or heart failure. For physiological sinus tachycardia, we can completely control it by changing our lifestyle, avoiding too much stress and anxiety in our lives, and limiting the use of stimulants such as tea and coffee. Coffee, tobacco, alcohol, maintaining a healthy diet for the circulatory system, regular exercise and intensity must be suitable to the patient's health status.

In fact, pathological sinus tachycardia is difficult to treat successfully because the cause of this condition is often not clearly discovered. For different patients, the state of sinus tachycardia will also be different, may be prescribed some drugs to treat sinus tachycardia such as beta-blockers or calcium channel blockers. Some patients with tachycardia may have a condition that is not responding to medication, and radio waves through a catheter may be used to disrupt a small amount of heart cell tissue that causes tachycardia. thereby correcting the arrhythmia in the patient.
Sinus tachycardia is a cardiac arrhythmia that needs to be detected promptly, differentiate physiological and pathological sinus tachycardia, and find the exact cause of sinus tachycardia to have the most effective treatment. . Therefore, when there are any abnormal signs, the patient should go to the medical facility to be examined and diagnosed in the most accurate way.
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