AboutDavid Richardson Expertise Adult heart function and disease. Not very good about children lesss than 12. Hypertension is o.k. Heart rhythm a special interest.
Experience Certified in cardiology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Was chairman of division of cardiology at the Medical College of Virginia. Am now mostly retired.
Organizations Fellow of American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology and member of American Physiological Society..
Publications Circulation, American Heart Journal, Hypertension.
Education/Credentials M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Residency training at Yale Uhniversity School of Medicine and Medical College of Virginia.
Awards and Honors Gold Heartt Award from American Heart Association in 1995.
Question I am a 30 year old woman. Yes I smoke. Just over the past year or so, I have been experiencing very scary heart issues. The most recent that scares me is my heart feels like it begins to miss a beat. I have read through the forums and see that others have this issue as well, but they dont explain how long it lasts.
I have been feeling this for about 2 weeks now, non-stop. There is no "few hours" of break time for me. about every 2 or 3 beats, my heart pauses, and them resumes.
This is something that used to happen once or twice a month for me, and now it happens a few hundred times a day. Please advise.
Answer Dear Sue,
Skipped beats are normal heart activity, no threat to life or health in someone with normal heart structure and function. About half of us have them, they are easy to understand as normal from knowledge of the heart's electrical system, and they don't mean you will ever get heart disease or any catastrophe. If financially feasible, get and echocardiogram and an EKG to be sure your heart structure and function are normal. They are liable to last several years, I think. Medicines will often decrease their frequency. Beta blockers are extremely safe and help some people have less skipped beats. Other meds are more effective than beta blockers for most people and are safe for those with normal heart structure and function.
Please write back if this note doesn't answer all your questions.
