good point with that!! I think if i could give any one person new to PVC's PAC's or arrhythmia, one peice of advice, it would be to be wary of what you read.
The original review showed up in NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine) 1998, v338 pp1369-1373. It appears that there is an update published by the same authors:
Current Cardiol. Rep. 2005, Sep; 7(5), pp362-7. The authors are: Pickett, C.C. and Zimetbaum, P.J.
Pubmed will get you the abstracts by searching on the authors, however, as these are reviews, there's not much in the abstracts. Unless you have on-line access to medical e-journals, your best bet is to request copies through your local library.
Pubmed allows you to expand your search (once you have found either of the above papers) to "similar" hits, and there you will find even more papers devoted to such overviews.
Good luck.
-Arthur
how do i find that article with just a citation?
You will find that people get these palpitations whether they drink a lot of water or not, sweat a lot or not. For some people stimulants bring them on for others not. Doctors and Cardiologists don't even know what brings them on in a healthy heart.
Physical conditions can bring them on thats why blood tests are done to rule out thyroid problems, low potassium, low blood sugar etc etc. If any of these conditions causes the palpitations nothing will help until the concitions I mentioned above are taken care of with meds or life style changes.
High blood pressure can also cause palpitations, that its why it is important for people to know their BP #
But if no physical condition was detected during blood tests, BP is normal, heart has been checked out then these benign palps/PVC's are benign and very annoying.
If tests are not done to rule out what and if something causes these palpations you can do a lot of damage to your body by trying to get rid of the palpa without knowing what causes them.
I found out that for tachycardia (fast heart beat) if your rub each side of your neck where your carotid arteries are it will slow your heart rate down, but it will not do anything for PVC's (skipped beats). When I get a string of PVC's I usually caugh real heart and the beats go back to normal.
Everyone with palpitations should be seen by a doctor and get the nessecary tests to rule out any underlying cause, before going to the internet to try and find a cure.. There really is no "cure" for palps.. Why would there be? they are within the realm of norm, and as the old saying goes, if it aint broke, dont fix it :) Of course making lifestyle changes that would benifit you in other ways as well as reduce the number of palps you get would of course be a positive change :) Its just very important to rule out other factors before seeking treatment.
Of course, especially these days, it's a real good idea to try and understand what palps are and what they might signify, before talking with a cardio or EP...just to make sure the right questions get asked and the answers are understood. To that end, any and all sources of potential information must be welcome. As usual, beware the internet...
-Arthur
To those who want to know more about palpitations and recommended treatment, see the review article in NEJM 338, pp1369-1373 (1998). It's a review article for MDs, with suggestions as to how to approach every and any palpitation (they define palps as arrhythmias, and not as we prefer, just the feeling of a heart beat).
Enjoy the read. If you are new to "palps" it's a must read.
-Arthur