While most of us experience occasional heart palpitations or fluttering at one time or another, nearly 4 million Americans have recurring heart rhythm problems that warrant a doctor’s care.
Called “arrhythmias,” such chronic disorders of the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat occur when the electrical impulses that control the heartbeat don’t function properly. This malfunction can cause the heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly. In either case, the condition can reduce the heart’s ability to pump enough blood to the body, risking damage to organs, stroke, sudden cardiac arrest or even death.
