{"id":2151,"date":"2018-06-13T05:11:02","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T05:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/besthealth.guide\/?p=2151"},"modified":"2021-10-12T00:58:48","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T00:58:48","slug":"15-causes-of-sinus-tachycardia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/15-causes-of-sinus-tachycardia\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Causes of Sinus Tachycardia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Our vital functions are controlled by a complex system comprised of our autonomous nervous system and the neurovegetative nuclei that are placed in our brain stem. The central control of our vital functions allows our bodies to function as a whole and in harmony. Among other things, these centers control our heart rate, our breathing rate, our blood pressure, our pupil diameter, our sugar blood levels, and our general state of sleepiness or consciousness.<\/p>\n

An autonomous nerve connects our brain stem with our heart, more specifically with a nucleus of neurons known as the sinus node. This node distributes the signals through our heart so it beats at a certain pace according to the instructions received by the central controls. The normal heartbeat is around sixty to eighty beats per minute. When the heart rate is higher, over a hundred beats per minute, it is called tachycardia; sinus tachycardia is caused by fast signals sent by the sinus node.<\/p>\n

1. Anemia<\/h3>\n

Anemia<\/a> is a blood condition that could be caused by a variety of factors, from poor nutrition and iron deficiency to genetic or hereditary diseases. Specifically, what is known as anemia is a low count of red cells in your blood. Red cells are responsible for carrying the oxygen and the carbon dioxide across your body. They transport the oxygen from your lungs to your cells, and then take the carbon dioxide that those cells produce as metabolic waste and transport it to the lungs to be released into the air.<\/p>\n

When we don\u2019t have enough blood cells to carry all the oxygen that cells need, our body can do some things to compensate for that lack of erythrocytes (the medical name of your red blood cells). One of them is accelerating the rate at which your heart beats, which increases the circulation of blood in your body.\"\"<\/p>\n

2. Stimulants<\/h3>\n

Our heart rate is controlled by several factors, both from outside and inside our bodies. Some substances that we take can affect the way our heartbeats because they have a direct effect on our nervous system, which controls our vegetative functions, including our heartbeat. In some cases, substances that we take can stimulate the release of hormones such as adrenalin, which increases the heart rate and can cause tachycardia.<\/p>\n

Some stimulants<\/a> are substances that we consume daily, but they can raise our heartbeat, especially if consumed at a high dose. Examples of daily use stimulants include caffeine, found in caf\u00e9 and some medications for the pain and fatigue; nicotine, a compound found in tobacco, cigarettes, and vapers; and some infusions. If you have tachycardia and normally consume one or more of these substances, then you should moderate or even quit their use to give your heart a break.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h3>\n

3. Recreational drugs<\/h3>\n

Following the same logic as with daily stimulants, some recreational drugs have high stimulating power and can increase your heartbeat and induce tachycardia<\/a>. Many recreational drugs are consumed precisely because of their stimulant properties, and their effect on the heart is often more intense than daily, legal stimulants such as tobacco and caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Among the most popular recreational drugs are cocaine and its derivatives (for example, crack) and amphetamines (such as methamphetamine). These substances often have a direct effect on the brain, inducing a rise in the release of catecholamines. Catecholamines are neurotransmitters, chemicals that our neurons use to communicate with one another.<\/p>\n

An increase in the liberation of catecholamines excites our brain and induces our neurovegetative system to activate our whole body, increasing the breathing rate as well as our heartbeat. Excessive tachycardia caused by an extreme dose of recreational drugs can damage the heart and even cause a cardiac arrest.\"\"<\/p>\n

4. Fever<\/h3>\n

Fever<\/a> is a non-specific response of the whole body before a threat, often an infection that runs in the organism and that must be eradicated in order to protect the individual\u2019s health. The basic symptom of fever is an increase in body temperature, which is meant to threaten the life of bacteria and other germs that have invaded the organism, but there are other symptoms that are commonly associated with fever as well.<\/p>\n

Sinus tachycardia is one of them, and it is most common to find sinus tachycardia in patients with high fever than in those with mild fever. When presented with a febrile episode, sinus tachycardia is very rarely a sign of a dangerous condition, but more like a common symptom of the entire episode. However, the presence of fever itself indicates the activation of the body to fight a threat to the health; it could be an infection or another problem that comes from inside the body, including an auto-immune disease.\"\"<\/p>\n

5. Anxiety and fear<\/h3>\n

The heart rate, as well as the rest of the vital signs and some functions of internal organs and glands, can be altered by your mental state. There are general systems that modulate your behavior and your vitals in order to adapt to certain circumstances. Even though anxiety is currently seen as a health problem and even a mental condition, it is not in itself a pathological manifestation of our behavior.<\/p>\n

Anxiety<\/a> is meant to prepare the body for a potential or real danger, and as a result, the organism reacts, getting ready for a possible burst in physical activity. Originally, anxiety was meant to get our body ready for a fight or for escaping a threat we want to avoid. For that reason, anxiety activates our blood circulation in order to get the blood to the muscles; that is why it can increase your heart rate and give you tachycardia.\"\"<\/p>\n

6. Happiness, love and other positive emotional states<\/h3>\n

Anxiety and fear are often associated with a rapid heartbeat in people\u2019s minds, but sometimes they are not aware of the fact that positive emotions can also make your heart jump in place, or at least the don\u2019t take that into consideration as much. Truth is that adrenalin, which is the hormone that is involved in anxiety responses and rises our heartbeat, is also released in moments when the person feels excited or expectant because that is also a preparation for action.<\/p>\n

Your body will need more energy, more glucose<\/a>, and more oxygen to consume in a burst of emotion, a celebration, or an act of passionate love, so it releases adrenalin that makes your heart go faster and pump more blood. These manifestations of positive emotions can produce healthy tachycardia, which is in itself no reason to worry about a possible health problem.\"\"<\/p>\n

7. Aerobic exercise<\/h3>\n

Just as what happens when you get excited or afraid, exercise increases your demand and consumption of energy. When you perform a physical exercise, your muscles burn more glucose and more fat in order to get the energy that they need to contract according to the type of exercise that you are doing. Even if all sorts of physical exercise increase the demand for blood and therefore boost your circulation, some forms of exercise are far more likely to give you a normal tachycardia than others.<\/p>\n

Namely, what is known as aerobic exercise tends to raise your heartbeat over a hundred beats per minute. Aerobic<\/a> exercise is the type of exercise that increases the consumption of oxygen in your muscles, and the most common forms of aerobic exercise include running, jumping, dancing, and swimming. You should only worry about tachycardia in these cases if it is excessive or if it lasts for too long.\"\"<\/p>\n

8. Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome<\/h3>\n

Up until this point, we have reviewed some of the normal, healthy causes of tachycardia. Exercise, emotions, and stimulants induce an increment in the heart rate which isn\u2019t necessarily unhealthy, and only an exaggerated or unbalanced tachycardia is a sign for concern in those cases.<\/p>\n

However, there are some heart and circulatory conditions that can affect the heart rate and cause sinus tachycardia. One of the conditions that are known to produce this symptom is called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. It is a very rare condition that is present from birth.<\/p>\n

Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is a malformation of the heart; babies are born with more nerve fibers<\/a> in their heart than they should have, so the signals that your heart gets are multiplied. This can cause the heart to beat faster than it should. Sometimes, the condition can be reversed with surgery, where the extra nervous fibers are removed from the heart.\"\"<\/p>\n

9. Atherosclerosis<\/h3>\n

Atherosclerosis<\/a> is a silent condition that affects your blood vessels and increases your likeability to develop a series of health problems, and even lose your life due to a stroke or cardiac arrest. People with bad habits, including bad eating habits and sedentary life, are at higher risk of developing this condition. Atherosclerosis is the deposit of certain fatty substances inside our blood vessels, gradually thinning the way through which the blood flows.<\/p>\n

If atherosclerosis gets too severe, a blood vessel can be obstructed by a clot; this is called thrombosis and can lead to death. When a person has atherosclerosis, it is more difficult for the blood to circulate, and as a result, the heart needs to make a bigger effort in order to pump it through or circulatory system. The heart beats faster, not in an episodic way but constantly throughout the day and the night.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h3>\n

10. Surgery<\/h3>\n

The causes of sinus tachycardia associated with surgery are multiple, and some of them have been stated above in this article. Surgical procedures, understandably, cause anxiety in the patients, and this fear can increase their heart rate.<\/p>\n

However, there are other causes of sinus tachycardia related to surgery, not all of which have been figured out by medical researchers. Some say that the heart beats faster in order to circulate more blood through the system and help the healing process. Others state that the post-operatory pain can also increase the heart rate of the patient, or even some of the medications used as antibiotics<\/a>, painkillers, and other drugs.<\/p>\n

Studies show that some types of surgery tend to cause tachycardia more often than others, although the causes of this correlation are yet to be properly understood. For example, joint surgery, especially the knee, elbow, and hip surgery, are known to increase the likeability of sinus tachycardia.\"\"<\/p>\n

11. Natural supplements<\/h3>\n

There is the general misconception that natural supplements and remedies have no secondary effects because they are natural and therefore healthy. However, people sometimes forget that all chemical substances can have more than one effect when taken into the body, and natural extracts of plants and other living beings are by nature complex and consist of many different chemicals with multiple effects on our organism.<\/p>\n

Some natural supplements and remedies are known to trigger a response of sinus tachycardia in some people. If you take natural supplements, don\u2019t forget to read the instructions and watch out for possible chemical interactions and counterindications.<\/p>\n

Among the most popular natural supplements that are known to trigger sinus<\/a> tachycardia are valerian (often used in a digestive tea), hawthorn (an ingredient of some cardiovascular remedies), bitter orange (popular for detox drinks), ephedra and ginseng (both used in energizing formulas and energy drinks). <\/p>\n

\"\"12. Antibiotics<\/h3>\n

In the last portion of this article is dedicated to medicines that are known to trigger sinus tachycardia as a side effect. Whenever your doctor prescribes you one of these compounds, they must ask about cardiac risk and bear it in mind when controlling your evolution as a patient. Also, the risk of sinus tachycardia should be stated on the prospect of the drug; still, you shouldn\u2019t take these medications without a prescription, precisely because a doctor can know about the potential risks of these compounds and recommend a drug that will be best for you.<\/p>\n

Antibiotics are sometimes self-administrated but they can cause health problems if not taken correctly, and sometimes even then. Among the antibiotics that are known to trigger sinus tachycardia, there is amoxicillin<\/a>, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and most especially, azithromycin. If you are taking some of these antibiotics and notice that your heart is beating faster, tell your doctor immediately.\"\"<\/p>\n

13. Antidepressant medication<\/h3>\n

Many psychiatric drugs are known to have several side effects on different parts of your body, mainly because they affect the brain. As you know, the brain controls basically every portion of your organism in a way or another and regulates systemic functions through hormones and the releasing of substances into your bloodstream. For that reason, a chemical that affects your brain can indirectly have effects on other systems, including of course your circulatory system.<\/p>\n

Among the psychiatric medications that you could take during your lifetime, certain antidepressants are known to increase your heart rate and even cause sinus tachycardia. These are the selective serotonin<\/a> reuptake inhibitors, also known as SIRS, which are often the first-choice prescription for depression as well as other mental conditions such as OCD and chronic anxiety. There are many SIRS in the market; the most common ones include fluoxetine, sertraline, venlafaxine, and citalopram.\"\"<\/p>\n

14. Asthma medicine<\/h3>\n

Asthma<\/a> is a chronic respiratory condition that produces the closure of the airways in response to certain stimuli, certain chemicals, or even emotional and undefined internal states. People with asthma can take a variety of medications because each body responds better to certain chemicals and not others. There are many drugs available for the treatment of asthma; even if the condition itself cannot be cured to this date, it can be effectively treated with lifetime drugs and\/or inhaled medication that can relieve an acute asthmatic reaction.<\/p>\n

Many of the medicines used to treat asthma are known to cause, in some cases, sinus tachycardia. Some of the inhaling drugs include corticosteroids and beta-2 agonists, which affect the beta receptors in the heart and affect the heart rate. Albuterol, some methylxanthines, and leukotriene modifiers can also cause sinus tachycardia. If you feel palpitations or a racing heart, your doctor could prescribe you a different medication. \"\"<\/p>\n

15. Levothyroxine<\/h3>\n

The metabolism of our body is controlled by hormones produced in our thyroid gland, which is located in our throat. The more thyroid hormone this gland releases into our bloodstream, the higher the rate at which our metabolism works. In some cases, there could be a problem with our thyroid gland, and it can release too much or too little thyroid hormones.<\/p>\n

When it doesn\u2019t release enough thyroid hormone, we have a condition called hypothyroidism, which slows down our metabolism and causes many symptoms, some of them including bradycardia, the opposite of tachycardia. Hypothyroidism is a chronic condition, which means that it cannot be cured, just treated.<\/p>\n

Levothyroxine<\/a> is a drug that is prescribed to treat low levels of thyroid hormone, and its main effect is to speed up the metabolism in our body, including our vital functions. Levothyroxine is known to cause sinus tachycardia in some patients that take it every day. \r\n

<\/div>