What is an arrhythmia?

Arrhythmia are an electrical disorder that affects your heart’s rhythm and rate, causing it to beat too quickly, or too slowly, or irregularly.

The technical term for a heart that is beating too quickly (more than 100 beats per minute) is tachycardia; for a heart that’s beating too slowly (fewer than 60 beats per minute) the term is bradycardia. 

A range of 60–100 beats per minute is considered normal, and while we all experience wide variation in pulse rate depending on what we’re doing – sleeping, for example, or climbing stairs – a heart rate that is often too fast, too slow, or uneven needs medical attention.

Arrythmias are very common, especially among the elderly, and some mild arrhythmias don’t really cause problems. However, severe arrhythmias can be dangerous, and some types of arrhythmia – like ventricular tachycardia – can result in cardiac arrest.