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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffCertain factors may increase your risk of developing an arrhythmia. These include:
- Age. With age, your heart muscle naturally weakens and loses some of its flexibility. This may affect how electrical impulses are conducted.
- Genetics. Being born with a heart abnormality may affect your heart's rhythm.
- Coronary artery disease, other heart problems and previous heart surgery. Narrowed heart arteries, heart attack, abnormal valves, prior heart surgery, cardiomyopathy and other heart damage are risk factors for almost any kind of arrhythmia.
- Thyroid problems. Your metabolism speeds up when your thyroid gland releases too many hormones. This may cause fast or irregular heartbeats and may be linked to atrial fibrillation. Your metabolism slows when your thyroid gland doesn't release enough hormones, which may cause a bradycardia.
- Drugs and supplements. Over-the-counter cough and cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine and certain prescription drugs may contribute to arrhythmia development.
- High blood pressure. This increases your risk of developing coronary artery disease. It may also cause the walls of your left ventricle to thicken, which can change how electrical impulses travel through your heart.
- Obesity. Along with being a risk factor for coronary artery disease, obesity may increase your risk of developing an arrhythmia.
- Diabetes. Your risk of developing coronary artery disease and high blood pressure greatly increases with uncontrolled diabetes. In addition, episodes of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) can trigger an arrhythmia.
- Obstructive sleep apnea. This disorder, in which your breathing is interrupted during sleep, can cause bradycardia and bursts of atrial fibrillation.
- Electrolyte imbalance. Substances in your blood called electrolytes, such as potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium, help trigger and conduct the electrical impulses in your heart. Electrolyte levels that are too high or too low can affect your heart's electrical impulses and contribute to arrhythmia development.
- Alcohol consumption. Drinking too much alcohol can affect the electrical impulses in your heart or increase the chance of developing atrial fibrillation. In fact, development of atrial fibrillation after an episode of heavy alcohol intake is sometimes called "holiday heart syndrome." Chronic alcohol abuse may cause your heart to beat less effectively and can lead to cardiomyopathy.
- Caffeine or nicotine use. Caffeine, nicotine and other stimulants can cause your heart to beat faster and may contribute to the development of more serious arrhythmias. Illicit drugs such as amphetamines and cocaine may profoundly affect the heart and lead to many types of arrhythmias or to sudden death due to ventricular fibrillation.
References
- The heart's electrical system: Working and not. American Heart Association. http://americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=34. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
- Heart rhythm disorders. Heart Rhythm Society. http://www.hrsonline.org/PatientInfo/HeartRhythmDisorders/index.cfm. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
- Long QT syndrome. Heart Rhythm Society. http://www.hrsonline.org/PatientInfo/HeartRhythmDisorders/IDisorders/index.cfm. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
- Atrial flutter. Heart Rhythm Society. http://www.hrsonline.org/PatientInfo/HeartRhythmDisorders/AFlutter/index.cfm. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
- Sick sinus syndrome. Heart Rhythm Society. http://www.hrsonline.org/PatientInfo/HeartRhythmDisorders/SSS/index.cfm. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
- Mehra R, et al. Association of nocturnal arrhythmias with sleep-disordered breathing: The Sleep Heart Health Study. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2006;173:910.
- Diagnosing arrhythmias. American Heart Association. http://americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
- Arrhythmia medications. American Heart Association. http://americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=18. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
- Ablative techniques. American Heart Association. http://americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=6. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
- Brodsky MA, et al. A history of heart failure predicts arrhythmia treatment efficacy: Data from the Antiarrythmics versus Implantable Defibrillators (AVID) Study. American Heart Journal. 2006;152:724.
- Henry L, et al. The Maze procedure: A surgical intervention for ablation of atrial fibrillation. Heart & Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care. 2008;37:432.
- Pacemaker. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/pace/pace_all.html. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
- Arnsdorf MF, et al. General principles of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 14, 2008.
