Heart palpitations are feelings or sensations that the heart is beating too hard, too fast, skipping a beat, or fluttering. They can be felt in the chest, throat, or neck. Many things can cause heart palpitations, including anxiety, stress, fear, caffeine, nicotine, certain drugs, diet pills, exercise, and fever. Heart palpitations are much more common in people with heart problems. The heart’s rhythm may be normal or abnormal when heart palpitations occur. If the heart’s rhythm is normal during episodes of heart palpitations, the symptoms may be reduced by leading a more healthy lifestyle, including eating healthier foods, exercising, losing weight, and not smoking. For cases in which the heart palpitations are caused by an abnormal heartbeat, treatment may be required, including medications or electric shocks designed to restore a normal heart rhythm.
UAB Cardiovascular Institute delivers optimal patient care for heart rhythm disorders. You will be cared for by regional and world leaders in the treatment of heart arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, ventricular tachycardia, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, atrioventricular re-entrant tachycardia, and other heart rhythm abnormalities.
Our physicians evaluate the newest treatments and technologies and author professional publications that advance the field of arrhythmia treatment. Their extensive experience and academic backgrounds ensure that they are familiar with all types of heart rhythm disorders. Our academic medical center performs more than 600 heart rhythm-related procedures each year, and our success in treating all types of complex arrhythmias is well-documented. Our electrophysiologists have access to the UAB Cardiovascular Institute, one of the largest of its kind in the Southeast. It features the most advanced technology available, including four procedural suites dedicated to electrophysiology (the electrical signals in the heart). At UAB Medicine you are part of a program that carries out pioneering work in atrial fibrillation and advanced pacemaker and cardioverter defibrillator design.
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