What causes arrhythmia?
Arrhythmias may be caused in several ways. First, it can be a failure of the normal heart electrical system (that is, the failure of the sinus node, AV node, bundle of His or bundle branches to function normally). The second major cause would be irritable spots taking over and making the heart race. The third cause would be a short circuit allowing continuous excitation and racing of the heart. Some arrhythmias are likely to recur over time, since they are the result of fixed electrical abnormalities in the person’s heart. Others are only temporary and caused by medications, hormone abnormalities, electrolyte disturbances (minerals in the blood like potassium), etc. Once these abnormalities are corrected, the heart rhythm returns to normal. Some arrhythmias are inherited and present from birth; these can be transmitted to children. Others present from birth are a sort of heart electrical birth defect but cannot be passed on to children. Still others are not present from birth but devel
