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    Ectopic Heartbeats, (Extrasystoles) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
    Ectopic Heartbeats, (Extrasystoles) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
    Ectopic Heartbeats, (Extrasystoles) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
    Ebook93 pages1 hour

    Ectopic Heartbeats, (Extrasystoles) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

    By Kenneth Kee

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    About this ebook

    Ectopic heart beat or extra-systole or is an extra heart beat which is produced that is not different from a normal sinus heart beat.
    It may or not be related to compensatory heart pain.
    Ectopic heartbeats are small modifications in a heartbeat that is otherwise normal.
    These alterations result in extra or skipped heartbeats.
    Often there is not an obvious reason for these alterations.
    Most of the changes in the heart beat are harmless.
    Ectopic heartbeats are basically extra beats, or premature contractions, which interfere with the normal regular rhythm of the heart.
    They happen when there is electrical discharge from someplace in the heart other than the sino-atrial node.
    The 2 most frequent forms of ectopic heartbeats are:
    1. Premature ventricular contractions (PVC) or Ventricular ectopic heartbeats
    They are more frequent in those with structural heart disease.
    Ventricular ectopic heartbeats are the most frequent form of arrhythmia that happens after myocardial infarction.
    They may also happen in severe left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and congestive cardiac failure.
    2. Premature atrial contractions (PAC) or Atrial ectopic heartbeats
    These are frequent in healthy people with normal hearts.
    There are often observed on 24-hour Holter monitoring in over 60% of healthy adults
    Causes:
    Normally no cause can be discovered.
    Occasionally ectopic heartbeats are seen with:
    1. Alterations in the blood, such as low potassium level (hypokalemia)
    2. Reduction in blood supply to the heart
    3. When the heart is enlarged
    Ectopic heartbeats may be produced or worsened by:
    1. Smoking,
    2. Alcohol use,
    3. Caffeine,
    4. Stimulant medicines, and
    5. Some street drugs.
    Symptoms:
    There may be no symptoms.
    Some patients have complaints of:
    1. Thumping in the chest.
    2. Palpitations
    3. Feeling like the heart stopped or skipped a beat
    Diagnosis
    A physical examination may reveal an occasional uneven pulse.
    ECG findings
    Atrial ectopic heartbeats are premature P waves which appear different from a normal P wave.
    They may be hidden in the ST segment or T wave of the preceding sinus beat.
    They may be followed either by a normal QRS complex, or the PR interval may be prolonged, or the impulse may not be carried out at all.
    Ventricular ectopic heartbeats are wide, abnormally shaped QRS complexes.
    Ectopic heartbeats happening at every second or third beat are termed bigeminy or trigeminy respectively.
    In the perspective of palpitations or suspected arrhythmia, referral to a specialist is needed:
    1. Critical symptoms (e.g., chest pain, breathlessness or loss of consciousness) normally require admission for treatment.
    2. Syncope or near syncope (particularly exertional syncope, which is a serious symptom).
    3. Symptoms indicating a pathological tachycardia - e.g., if there is an accurate description of very rapid heartbeat with sudden onset and offset.
    4. Noteworthy ECG abnormality.
    Holter and event monitors are portable ECG devices which can monitor the heart to reportt the heart's electrical activity for a full 24- or 48-hour period.
    Some event monitors start automatically with abnormal heart rhythms
    Treatment
    If a cause is found, the doctor will advise a treatment plan.
    1. Caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco removal
    2. Regular exercise for people who are inactive
    Most ectopic heartbeats do not need to be treated.
    The disorder is only treated if the symptoms are severe or if the extra beats happen very often.
    1. Drugs - beta-blockers
    2. Radiofrequency catheter ablation of the ectopic focus
    Also treat any underlying cardiac diseases:
    1. Hypertension,
    2. Electrolyte abnormalities
    3. Heart ischemia
    4. Heart Failure
    5. Heart valve diseases
    TABLE OF CONTENT
    Introduction
    Chapter 1 Ectopic

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKenneth Kee
    Release dateMar 26, 2017
    ISBN9781370839063
    Ectopic Heartbeats, (Extrasystoles) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
    Author

    Kenneth Kee

    Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

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      Book preview

      Ectopic Heartbeats, (Extrasystoles) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions - Kenneth Kee

      Ectopic Heartbeats,

      (Extrasystoles)

      A

      Simple

      Guide

      To

      The Condition,

      Diagnosis,

      Treatment

      And

      Related Conditions

      By

      Dr Kenneth Kee

      M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

      Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

      Copyright Kenneth Kee 2017 Smashwords Edition

      Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

      Dedication

      This book is dedicated

      To my wife Dorothy

      And my children

      Carolyn, Grace

      And Kelvin

      This book describes the Ectopic Heartbeats, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

      (What You Need to Treat Ectopic Heartbeats)

      This eBook is licensed for the personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

      If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

      Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Introduction

      I have been writing medical articles for my blog http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Condition) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

      My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

      Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

      I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

      This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Conditions into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

      From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 700 amazon kindle books and some into Smashwords.com eBooks.

      Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

      For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

      The later books go into more details of medical conditions.

      The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

      Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

      As I tried to bring you the latest information about a condition or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

      Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

      I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

      I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

      I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

      Chapter 1

      Ectopic heartbeat (Extrasystoles)

      All of us may have a skipped heart beat once in a while.

      In fact in the course of my medical practice I have come across many cases of skipped beats in my patients.

      Most of them are benign as tested on ECG.

      There may 1 or 2 skipped beats on the ECG.

      However, to be sure a stress ECG or treadmill should be done.

      Some of them are the result of early atrial fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia.

      These heart disorders need to be referred to a heart specialist for further investigations.

      The danger of extra-systole is that the abnormal heart beats may throw out blood clots and cause stroke or heart attacks.

      My clinical assistant was one of them.

      She has a history of scoliosis and collapsed lungs from pulmonary tuberculosis for which she was treated for 6 months.

      However the scoliosis and collapsed had affected her heart function by pressing on the

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