Suddenly, our heart remembers us. She lets herself go, seems to hit our chest. We have all felt this feeling at one time or another. Fortunately, heart palpitations are not necessarily a sign of an illness that requires going to the doctor or consulting a cardiologist, explains Ariel Cohen, head of the cardiology department at the Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris, in the latest episode of the health podcast. BFMTV. .
According to the cardiologist, heart palpitations are, after chest pain, “the second cause of cardiology consultations”: “Patients complain quite quickly and naturally of feeling the heart when normally we do not feel the heartbeat.”
As Ariel Cohen points out, the normal heart rate of a human being is between 60 and 70 beats per minute. “Beyond 100 beats per minute we can feel our heart,” adds the cardiologist. “You can feel your heart beating regularly and that’s quite reassuring.”
And if it beats irregularly, it is usually the result of an extrasystole, an extra heartbeat that gives the perception of a missed heartbeat. “It’s a little less reassuring, but most of the time it’s benign.”
History calls for vigilance
In certain situations, it is completely normal to feel your heart racing. This is the case, for example, after physical exercise, a strong emotion, in cases of stress or when you have a fever.
If there are no associated symptoms, such as difficulty breathing or chest pain, “it is of no use to consult immediately unless it reappears.”
“If attacks (of tachycardia) are really perceived, which are disabling, which are repetitive, with a heart rate that exceeds 120 beats per minute, you should at least consult your family doctor, perform an electrocardiographic tracing and, if necessary, necessary, go further. “Ariel Cohen also adds.
Connected watches, a useful tool?
On the other hand, vigilance should be required for all people who suffer from proven heart disease, who have a family history, or who take medications or products “that excite the body a little.”
“This can contribute to triggering a tachycardia that, we hope, will be the so-called sinus tachycardia, that is, benign. But it can reveal a tachycardia that originates in the atria, the ventricles or the junction between them. The cardiologist must intervene. and the doctor,” insists Ariel Cohen.
Asked about the benefit of connected watches to monitor heartbeats, the cardiologist believes that it is “an increasingly useful, necessary and even essential tool for patients who have proven heart diseases.” On the other hand, “it is not essential to look at it all the time when you are making an effort or when you are angry,” he adds.
Source: BFM TV
