Have you ever experienced an episode of feeling light-headed and/or short of breath? If so, this could be the result of many types of causes, but one cause that you might not take into account is ventricular tachycardia.

Although it’s not the most common medical condition, this heart rhythm problem can cause these symptoms, including others. Read on to learn more about it from our AFC Urgent Care Athens, TN team.

What Exactly Is Ventricular Tachycardia?

Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a condition caused that causes a heart rhythm problem, due to irregular electrical signals in the ventricles of the heart. A normal heartbeat at rest is between 60 and 100 beats per minute, but VT causes the heart to beat over 100 times per minute.

When this happens, it prevents the heart chambers from filling with as much blood as they should, thus not allowing enough blood to be pumped to the rest of the body. Ventricular tachycardia can come and go and not be a huge concern in some cases, but sustained VT can be life-threatening. We’ve listed the most common VT symptoms below.

Common Ventricular Tachycardia Symptoms

• Chest pain
• Dizziness
• Pounding heartbeat
• Lightheadedness
• Shortness of breath

What Causes Ventricular Tachycardia?

VT can be caused by a lot of different things. Obviously, poor heart signaling is the main cause, which we explained earlier, but that can be brought upon by other issues that we’ve listed in the next section.

The best way to prevent VT from affecting you is by living a healthy lifestyle. Doing things like exercising often, eating a healthy diet and finding ways to control your stress and anxiety levels will dramatically reduce your risk.

Common Causes of VT

• A prior heart attack or other heart condition that caused scarring of heart tissue
• Poor blood flow to the heart muscle, due to coronary artery disease
• Electrolyte imbalances, such as an imbalance of potassium, sodium, calcium and/or magnesium
• Medication side effects
• Use of stimulants and hard drugs, such as cocaine or methamphetamine

Our AFC Urgent Care Athens, TN team can provide treatment for all kinds of non-emergency issues! Stop by our center today to get the quality care that you deserve.