Ectopic Heart Beats

[Rob Powell]

My GP has said that i am having ectopic heart beats. This seems to be generally harmless but i am wondering if this will have an impact on training. these seem to be missing heart beats so if this is the case and you have enough of them will this affect the uptake of oxygen to the muscles and impact on endurance and ability to push hard?

 

[arrhythmia rules]

My GP has said that i am having ectopic heart beats. This seems to be generally harmless but i am wondering if this will have an impact on training. these seem to be missing heart beats so if this is the case and you have enough of them will this affect the uptake of oxygen to the muscles and impact on endurance and ability to push hard?

How does he know? Did you have an ecg, do you have other symptoms, do you check your pulse regularly. I am not a Dr but have an atrial arrhythmia which makes me interested in all these issues.

Ectopics can be a real pain. If you have many I would want to know why. They are usually caused when there is a premature and therefore incomplete beat in the ventricle. IE you have one normal beat, then the next comes to quickly and is weak so a gap then a normal beat again. I call them pauses 'cause that is how they feel. Some people have many thousands per day.

In effect you have largely missed a ventricle beat. So yes it must effect oxygen carrying around the body. They are supposed to generally be benign but can be a real nuisance - you have to decide how much that applies to you. Go on the internet, try wikipedia to start with and research it. Does your Dr know you train? Its your quality of life so if you are not happy pursue it. Being fitter should be better. There are drugs to help reduce them but for some the side effects are far worse than the ectopics. Some find the drugs OK.

 

[red_explosions]

ectopics

Unless you are getting several of these a minute they are nothing to worry about. I get a handful every day and, although unpleasant, they do not affect me in the slightest. The 'missing' beat is caused by a prolonged refill of the heart in response to the quickfire ectopic beat. You would have to be getting a very high number of these for it to impact on oxygen delivery to your body tissues. Occasional or moderate amounts of beats will not affect your training/racing.

Make sure you are getting enough rest and relaxation. The stress response increases the propensity for ectopic beats, as adrenaline encourages the electrical signal of the heart to bypass the sino atrial node (the 'pacemaker') and initiate an ectopic beat.

 

[arrhythmia rules]

The stress response increases the propensity for ectopic beats, as adrenaline encourages the electrical signal of the heart to bypass the sino atrial node (the 'pacemaker') and initiate an ectopic beat.

I think not quite. Most of the heart cells have the potential to initiate the electrical action stimulating the heart muscle contraction and pumping. The sinus node positioned in the right atrium will generate pulses slightly quicker so will generally initiate the heart beat. The electrical activity will then spread through the atrial heart muscle causing the muscle contraction. It will then be momentarily delayed through the AV node to then stimulate the ventricle muscle similarly spreading through the muscle causing the contraction and pumping. You need the delay through the AV node or the atria and ventricle would beat together - a pretty useless arrangement that would be.

While adrenalin does stimulate the sinus node so does a whole range of nerve stimuli - both the vagal and sympathetic systems, its their job to speed it up or slow it down. For athletes it is frequently raised vagal tone which encourages atrial miss beats. However worry, anger, stress, alcohol, caffeine, relaxation, waking, shock, large meals, ejaculation, breath holding - I could go on - can all initiate atrial miss beats.

With ectopics that you feel this is an issue with the ventricle beat, not the atria. The premature ventricle beat will have been stimulated by an electrical impulse from within the ventricle muscle. As everyone has said these are benign and unimportant - except to the person having them. If you have lots they can be literally a real pain. They will effect blood flow for each beet effectively missed. Only if you have a history of prior heart attack or you really have lots is there normally a need for further investigation but you should still talk to your Dr. Alcohol and coffee can encourage them as of course does hard exercise, especially endurance sports like cycling. Physical activity can increase electrical disturbance in both atria and ventricle.

When the atria produces premature beats the situation becomes more "interesting". This can cause atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation which I have. Either of which mean a much less effective atrial pump and a confused signal for the AV node to pass to the ventricles. Well worth a Dr visit. These are generally much more of an embug_gerance but in the absence of other heart conditions are also benign.

Studies now show that from 5 to 10% of seriously trained endurance athletes like cyclists will develop an atrial arrhythmia compared to less than 1% of the less fit population.

No I am not a Dr but I have done a little home work.