The cardiologist said it’s “very dangerous and harmful” to dismiss this
A cardiologist has shared that people need to stop assuming that their heart palpitations are innocent and seek help. Taking to TikTok, Doctor Siyab, aka @drsiyabmd, said “I often take care of patients with palpitations on a daily basis in my practice”, revealing the reason why you have them.
Looking to make sure that people are educated when it comes to their health, he explained to his nearly one million followers that “palpitations are commonly felt by people in a variety of ways, but typically they’ll be felt as a heart racing or fluttering in the chest or some similar symptom by most people”. But he noted that there was a dangerous assumption that people needed to stop making.
The doctor explained there were a number of causes of palpitations “ranging from benign things all the way to things are significant. Commonly it will be an actual abnormal heart rhythm – anything from extra beats like PVCs (premature ventricular contraction) to arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter or SVT (Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT))”.
He also noted that there was a reason many of us were probably feeling like our heart was racing or skipping a beat – but even if we think it’s anxiety we cannot assume this – stressing it’s dangerous: “Some of you may not like it, but anxiety is also a common cause of heart palpitations. Now let me be clear, anxiety should not be assumed as the obvious cause of somebody’s palpitations. Everybody should get a proper work-up.”
This includes “a heart monitor echocardiogram, etc, to make sure that there is no organic, physical problem with the heart that could be causing them their symptoms. I have a lot of people in my practice that have palpitations that are caused by abnormal heart rhythms or other abnormalities within the heart.
“On the other hand I also have a lot of people with diagnosed anxiety that does indeed cause they symptoms. Anxiety, whether that’s anxiety disorder, panic disorder, some sort of stress in your life or even health anxiety – these are very real medical conditions that can manifest in physical ways and physical symptoms like chest pain or palpitations.”
In the past he has given his patients heart monitors and despite having “palpitations I can see that their heart rhythm is absolutely normal”. However he also noted that some people have had “PVCs or SVT or any other number of abnormal rhythms during the monitoring period and they don’t actually have any symptoms – they’re asymptomatic.
“I think it’s very dangerous and harmful to just outright dismiss anxiety, health anxiety and panic disorder as a legitimate cause of heart related symptoms because it’s dismissive of an actual sometimes debilitating condition that a lot of people have and it delays the care that they need.
“Additionally recognising that somebody’s anxiety may be causing some of their symptoms can really help them manage these symptoms in the future and potentially reduce” trip to A&E “because they can learn to manage these things on their own.”
