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Heart block & bradycardia

Bradycardia et blocus atrioventricularis · Srdeční blokáda a bradykardie

What it is

The heart's wiring fails and the rate falls too low to supply the brain.

Symptoms & signs

  • Fainting or near-fainting
  • fatigue
  • breathlessness
  • slow pulse
  • confusion in the elderly

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now Fainting or near-fainting, especially without warning
  • call 112 / 911 now Pulse under 40 with dizziness, chest pain or breathlessness
  • see a doctor soon New breathlessness, tiredness or confusion with a slow pulse
  • see a doctor soon Slow pulse after starting a new heart or blood pressure drug

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Stop rate-slowing drugs
  • permanent pacemaker for symptomatic block
  • temporary pacing in emergencies
  • leadless pacemakers (Micra, Aveir) — FDA-approved since 2016

Natural & lifestyle

  • Review medication with a doctor before assuming it is age
  • report blackouts rather than explaining them away

Emerging & experimental

  • Conduction-system pacing (His bundle, left bundle area)

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Caffeine and stimulants to lift the rate — unreliable and risky anecdotal / traditional
  • Hawthorn — can slow the heart further; avoid anecdotal / traditional

ICD codes