Your heart has a pretty thankless job. It pumps and pumps, keeping you alive, but you’re normally not aware of it. Unless, of course, you’re being robbed, you’ve just sprinted 50 metres to catch a bus or you’re about to kiss someone special for the first time.
Then your heart beats so hard and fast that it almost seems to have leapt into your mouth, as the saying goes. Do you have reason to worry? A heart specialist says probably not.
The heart is an extremely efficient organ, pumping precisely the amount of blood that the body needs – no less, but also no more, since that would be a waste of energy, explains Dr Karl Stangl, acting director of the medical department at Charite hospital’s cardiology and angiology division in Berlin.
If you feel fear, an evolutionary response occurs. Your autonomic nervous system, which controls involuntary body functions, triggers the fight-or-flight response, providing the body with a burst of energy to meet the perceived danger.
Your adrenal glands, located on top of each kidney, release the hormone epinephrine – also known as adrenaline – into your bloodstream. As a result, your heart not only beats faster, but also pumps more blood per heartbeat to your muscles and vital organs. Your heart races and you can’t control it.
“The autonomic nervous system isn’t called ‘autonomic’ for nothing,” Stangl says, pointing out that there’s nothing wrong when your heart pumps more blood than usual now and then.
“A healthy body can easily handle it for a while.”
If your heart suddenly starts racing for no apparent reason, though, Stangl advises going to a hospital’s accident and emergency department, “where the arrhythmia will be documented and treated.”
You and the doctor can then try to determine the cause. In rare cases, palpitations may be a symptom of a serious heart condition. – dpa
