Heart Rhythms

What is a normal heart rhythm?

Your heart is a muscle that pumps blood around the body. For the pump to work, it needs an electrical supply. This is provided by a special group of heart cells called the sinus node, which is also known as your heart’s natural pacemaker.

The electrical signal produced by the sinus node makes your heart’s top chambers or atria contract and push blood through to the lower chambers or ventricles. When the impulses reach the ventricles, they contract to push the blood out of the heart and into the lungs and the rest of the body. These electrical impulses cause your heart to beat between 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm).

The normal electrical pattern of your heart, is known as sinus rhythm, and can be recorded doing an electrocardiogram (ECG). You can measure your own heart rate and feel your rhythm by taking your pulse.

It's normal for your heart to beat at different rates during the day. For example it will be slower when you are sleeping, resting or doing activites that do not require a lot of effort but may be faster when you are physically active such as when you are gardening, walking briskly, or running. Your heart rate might also be faster if you are anxious or excited.

My heart rate feels different sometimes. Is this a problem?

You may experience a sensation of feeling your heart beating whether it is beating normally, quickly, slowly or irregularly. Some people describe them as feeling that your heart is pounding or fluttering. These sensations are called palpitations.

For most people, although palpitations can feel unpleasant, they’re usually harmless and do not mean anything is wrong with your heart.

You might also feel that your heart has missed or 'skipped' a beat or there has been an extra beat. An extra beat is called an ectopic beat. Ectopic beats are very common. They are usually harmless and do not need any treatment.

If you are concerned about paliptations or ectopic beats, you should speak to your doctor who will be able to do an ECG to assess your heart rate and thrythm.

My heart seems to beat differently. What does this mean?

There are lots of reasons why you may have a different heart rhythm. You may hear your doctor or nurse describe anything that is different from the normal sinus rhythm as an arrhythmia.  Some of the common reasons you may have an arrhythmia are:

• Your heart is beating either very fast or very slowly
• The electrical impulses are coming from another part of the heart and not the sinus node
• The electrical impulses are coming from the sinus node, but going to the lower chambers of the heart by an unusual path.

The most common arrhythmia is Atrial fibrillation.

What else do I need to know?

For more information see our booklet on Heart rhythms and Atrial fibrillation or call our Heart HelpLine on 0300 330 3311 Mon-Fri 0900 - 1800. Calls are charged at a local rate.

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