Check the rhythm of your heart — 30 seconds is all it takes

Trudie Lobban, MBE

Founder, Arrhythmia Alliance

While most people will know the importance of their heart rate, many do not realise that it is just as important to know your heart rhythm.

Does your heart beat like a drum? Does it race like a cheetah or flap like a fish? You could have an arrhythmia (heart rhythm disorder). This could prove fatal, despite simple, quick treatments being available.

Common heart rhythm disorders

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm disorder. It can affect adults of any age but is more common as people get older, affecting about 10% of over-65s. If left untreated, it can cause an AF-related stroke, which often proves to be fatal. Yet, with a simple pulse check, it can detect AF, and treatments to manage and reduce your risk exist.

Another common but often unrecognised condition is supraventricular tachycardia (SVT).  SVT causes a heart rhythm of over 100 beats per minute. It leads to palpitations, breathlessness, chest pain, dizziness and, sometimes, loss of consciousness.

Although it is not life-threatening, SVT can be very frightening. Imagine living with your heart racing, trying to catch your breath and the panic it causes. A simple pulse check takes just 30 seconds and can detect AF and symptoms of SVT.

If we can detect and record the rhythm
of our hearts using digital technology,
we can provide the evidence that
doctors need to speed up diagnosis.

Early diagnosis saves families

If I had known 30 years ago what I know now, my daughter, who was suffering unexplained loss of consciousness, would have been diagnosed sooner (it took over three years to obtain a diagnosis).

If my husband had had heart check-ups, he may still be alive today; and if my parents had been monitored with their anticoagulation therapy for AF maybe, they would not have suffered AF-related strokes — all of this due to irregular heart rhythm conditions.

Know your pulse and detect heart rhythm

We must learn to help ourselves by knowing our pulse; it’s so simple and potentially lifesaving. The public must be able to help themselves and help our over-burdened healthcare services.

If we can detect and record the rhythm of our hearts using digital technology, we can provide the evidence that doctors need to speed up diagnosis and therefore receive treatment quicker. Remember, your heart is not just a muscle to pump blood around your body; it also has electrics to ensure the rhythm of your heart does not ‘short-circuit.’