What is arrhythmia?

Arrhythmias are defined as any cardiac rhythm other than the normal sinus rhythm.  It is a disturbance of the normal heart rhythm. Cardiac arrhythmias were first noted in antiquity, when physicians began to palpate the arterial pulse.

Hippocrates noted that a slow pulse in elderly men heralded sudden death, and Galen predicted the impending death of an apparently healthy physician who had observed that his pulse was irregular. From an electrocardiographic point of view, arrhythmias may be divided into two different types
*Active arrhythmias
*Passive arrhythmias

Normal resting heart rate is 60 to 100 beats/min. A heartbeat that is too low or too fast can interfere with normal heart function and produce symptoms that can be minor or life threatening.

The incidence of the majority of arrhythmias increases with age progressively and arrhythmias are not frequent in children.

Patent may be asymptomatic or may experience the following:
*Fatigue, weakness
*Dizziness
*Light-headedness
*Fainting or near fainting
*Shortness or breadth.
What is arrhythmia?