When the Heart Skips a Beat — Worry or Not?
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Almost everyone feels occasional heart palpitations — a change in the heart’s rhythm. Palpitations range from what feels like a skip, flip or bump in the heart’s rhythm to a sustained, racing heartbeat. The July issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter provides an overview of heart palpitations, including when emergency care is needed, what diagnostic tests are used and common triggers. Most often, heart palpitations are harmless, but not always. Palpitations can be a sign of an underlying serious problem such as heart disease, an overactive thyroid gland or anemia. Rarely, tumors can produce certain hormones that can cause heart palpitations. Emergency care is recommended when palpitations are accompanied by chest pain or fainting, or if they involve a racing heart that doesn’t slow to a normal pace within about 20 minutes. Palpitations, along with light-headedness, shortness of breath or a feeling of dizziness, or a racing heart that returns to normal on its own, are not
