Ectopic Heartbeat Blog
This Section aims to help you understand more about your condition
Beta Blocker Approach to Arrhythmias
Tuesday 9th January 2020
Once you have been to see your doctor, got your referral, seen your cardiologist, been told that ectopics won't kill you, have a nice life, you end up back with your doctor because of worsening symptoms or that you want an end to them. Yout doctor will then try and prescribe some drug or other to help you manage the symptoms. This is where it gets interesting.
Quite a number of sufferers have reported to me that they feel like a lab rat, trying this, trying that until they either walk away or end up on a drug that is the least worst of a bad lot and one that leaves them without symptoms for most of the time, but with side effects they don't like. Does this sound familiar?
I recently came across an article that I would like to share with you that describes this process from a medical point of view. In it, that author talks about how doctors still don't know much about the cause of arrhythmias and less about how to overcome them. It goes on to say that beta blockers can in some cases make the arrhythmias so bad that they cause death. I don't write this lightly. I also don't know the percentages or ratio of the numbers involved. The final thing I get from this is that beta blockers can do one of three things, 1) Be anti-arrhythmic as they are supposed to be 2) Do nothing, or 3) Cause arrhythmias. Again, I don't know any figures about these three effects.
I write this, not to scare you but to inform you of the current state of play in the medical treatment of arrhythmias. Below is the excerpt I refer to:
"Despite major scientific, medical and technological advances over the last few decades, a cure of cardiac arrhythmias remains elusive. As a very appropriate example of the problems of traditional cardiology, which is generally based on physiological approach, is the result of the CAST [3, 4], a multicenter, double-blind, randomized controlled trial, that has revealed a higher rate of death from arrhythmia of the patients treated with antiarrhythmic agents in comparison with the patients assigned to placebo."
One of the well-known Russian cardiologists having analyzed a number of multicenter trials came to the conclusion [5] that treatment with antiarrhythmic drugs is prescribed nearly at random; he shared his impression with the following words: "Potentially any of the known antiarrhythmic drugs can 1) cause an antiarrhythmic effect, 2) not cause it, 3) be arrhythmogenic. And each of these cases happens unpredictably for a patient. Therefore, pharmacological tests are strongly required for selecting not only effective but, at least, harmless therapy for patients with malignant ventricular arrhythmias."
Another author impressed by the result asserted that antiarrhythmic drugs have "cost more American lives than the Vietnam War".
Source:
Cardiac Arrhythmias: Mechanisms, Pathophysiology, and Treatment, Edited by Wilbert S. Aronow,
Chapter 1 Basic Mechanisms of Cardiac Arrhythmias by Andrey Moskalenko, Published 12 February, 2014, Published by AvE4EvA
A safe and effective way of overcoming your ectopic heartbeat is with the Breathe Easy Program.
The Progesterone-Hyperventilation Connection
Sunday 7th August 2019
I get quite a number of enquiries about the links between diet/stress/menstrual cycle and ectopic heartbeat. Sections in the program cover these areas quite comprehensively, but the section that will benefit from further explanation is the link between various stages of the menstrual cycle and increased ectopic activity. This is an area of great concern for some women and I hope to shed some light on the cause and effect that fluctuating hormone levels can have on your ectopic beats.
As I spend a lot of time answering the same email questions, I have decided to start writing detailed reports on particular issues surrounding ectopic heartbeat, which I will email out to those who are interested. You can get your FREE copy of the report by emailing me on the link below.
Contact me for your free report on the Progesterone-Hyperventilation Connection
NOTE: This report is now included in the Breathe Easy Program.
Burnout: one risk factor for Atrial Fibrillation
Monday 15th February 2021
An article on the European Society of Cardiology suggests that burnout or Vital Exhaustion can increase your chances of developing atrial fibrillation by 20%.
Vital exhaustion (VE) is the medical term for burnout, a term most people are familiar with. This is developed over time from overwhelming and long-lasting stress. When this mental exhaustion is not recognised and treated, it can cause harm in those sufferers.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent arrhythmia in people and can lead to stroke and in rare cases, heart attack and death.
The study behind this article followed over 11,000 people for almost 25 years and looked for the presence of vital exhaustion, anger, antidepressant use and linked it with each individual's social support. People with the greatest levels of VE were found to have a 20% higher risk of AF compared to those with little VE.
The article can be read hereThe Breathe Easy Program has had success in reducing and stopping atrial fibrillation in sufferers.
All the best,
Stewart