My heart sometimes has a double beat. Is this normal?
Question
Just recently I have noticed that my heart occasionally gives a double beat (like an extra beat).
This can happen several times on some days, but then on other days I don’t feel it.
I just happened to notice it when I was taking my resting pulse rate one day and have wondered about it since.
I do quite a lot of exercise and never have any problems, such as chest pains.
My pulse rate is quite normal and I very rarely have palpitations. I have increased my exercise in the last few months and my resting pulse rate does seem to have dropped a few beats per minute.
Are these extra beats normal?
Answer
Questions about extra or double beats crop up from time to time and the first thing to say is that I am sure you do not have anything to worry about here.
You are young, do lots of exercise and have not other symptoms, and you also helpfully point out that you do not have any palpitations.
You also point out that you think that your resting pulse has dropped in the last few months and correctly, I am sure, relate this to your increased exercise.
This is a good thing, and shows that your cardiovascular system, (your heart and circulation), are responding to your increased fitness. This is nothing to do with your extra beats.
So what is happening to give you this sensation? The heart rate is regulated by a complicated automatic system that fires off an electrical impulse from a focal point in the heart, that in turn triggers off the contraction of the heart muscle to form a heart beat.
The system works amazingly well, and responds to changes in activity, speeding up with exercise when there is more demand, and slowing down when you are at rest. It also responds to emotion, and to illness, such as when you are running a temperature.
But it is not comple
y perfect, and sometimes the heart electrical system fires off extra beats, or occasionally misses one. Sometimes people are aware of this happening as one heart beat is more prominent and gives a little thumping sensation.
These extra beats can be seen on an and are called 'extra systoles'(pronounced ‘sis-toll-eese’). This can happen in a perfectly healthy heart, and they are in fact usually abolished by exercise, so I don't expect you will feel them then.
But what might trigger them? Often there is no reason at all, but they may occur more frequently when there is a bit more adrenaline in the system, such as if you are stressed, and they can happen more often if certain stimulants are in the system, the most common being caffeine.
People who get a lot of these extra beast sometimes find that cutting down on excessive drinks of coffee or tea, or cola and so-called 'sports drinks' which contain a lot of caffeine, can help.
I don't think you really have anything to worry about here. As long as this is infrequent and you don't have prolonged palpitations, no harm should come of it and your heart will be quite healthy.
Of course if you think it gets increasingly troublesome you should ask your doctor about it, but I very much doubt that this will be problem for you.
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