8 Reasons Why Your EKG Reading Could be Abnormal
Introduction
An EKG/ECG, or electrocardiogram, is a test that records the electrical activity of the heart through electrode patches attached to your arms, chest, and legs. However, factors such as stress, electrolyte imbalances, or medication can cause unusual results. Should you worry about an abnormal EKG? In this article, we’ll explain which EKG abnormalities are harmless and which may signal significant heart issues.
Why Your EKG Reading is Abnormal
The average human heart beats between 60 and 100 times per minute. With an EKG machine, you can detect irregular heartbeats such as atrial fibrillation, tachycardia or bradycardia, which disrupt electrical impulses in the heart.
Structural issues within the heart such as congenital heart detects, valve disease or cardiomyopathy can lead to unusual EKG results.
Some medical conditions, such as high blood pressure, viral infections of cardiac muscle, advanced age, and heart failure can enlarge heart chambers. This will result in large waves on an EKG.
Electrolytes are essential minerals, such as potassium, sodium, calcium, chloride and magnesium, that have a natural positive or negative electric charge when dissolved in water. Electrolyte imbalances can disrupt the heart’s electrical activity, causing abnormal EKG patterns.
Before an EKG test, you should discuss any medications you are taking with your doctor. Some medications, such as In fact, some medications, such as beta-blockers, are used to help balance heart rhythm, which can cause abnormal rhythms to occur.
Those with high blood pressure are more likely to have an abnormal EKG result than those with normal blood pressure.
An EKG can reveal ischemia, which reduces blood flow to your heart and can cause abnormal heart rhythms. Inadequate blood flow to the heart may result in oxygen deprivation.
An abnormal EKG reading can be the result of a serious problem, such as a heart attack. A heart attack damages tissue that disrupts electrical conduction, often causing an abnormal EKG reading.
