HOW DR DAVID BEGLEY CAN HELP
Pacemakers offer an improved quality of life and relief from symptoms in patients suffering from heart rhythm abnormalities. Finding a competent and experienced Pacemaker Specialist in Cambridge can completely change the life of many patients for the better.
What Is A Pacemaker?
A pacemaker is a small device that is surgically placed within the chest or abdomen to help control abnormal heart rhythms. It works using carefully calibrated electrical pulses that prompt the heart to beat at a normal and more regular rate.
What Conditions Can Be Helped By Fitting A Pacemaker?
As a pacemaker specialist in Cambridge, Dr David Begley is able to dramatically improve the lives of patients suffering with a variety of heart conditions. Pacemakers are designed to treat conditions that effect the speed and rate at which the heart beats. These types of conditions are known as arrhythmias, the most common of which are:
Tachycardia – This is where the heart rate exceeds the normal acceptable resting rate. In general, a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute is accepted to be tachycardia in an adult.
Bradycardia – This is where the individual has a slow heart rate, typically defined as a heart rate of under 60 beats per minute (BPM) in adults.
When the heart is not beating within the normal range, patients can suffer from a variety of uncomfortable, and often worrying symptoms including:
- Tiredness (fatigue)
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness
- Fainting
Severe arrhythmias can even cause irreversible damage to the body’s vital organs and may cause loss of consciousness. Patients suffering from an arrhythmia can find their symptoms dramatically improved after having a pacemaker fitted.
How Does A Pacemaker Work?
A pacemaker helps to monitor and control the heartbeat, using electrodes to detect the electrical activity of the heart. The data is sent through a wire to a computer that is contained within the generator.
The unit consists of a battery, a computerised generator, and electrodes with sensors at their tips. The tiny computer contained inside, will record both the heart’s electrical activity and rhythm, for your doctor to make adjustments to your pacemaker as and when its necessary.
Pacemakers have one to three wires that are each placed in different chambers of the heart.
- The wires in a single-chamber pacemaker usually carry pulses from the generator to the right ventricle (the lower right chamber of your heart).
- The wires in a dual-chamber pacemaker carry pulses from the generator to the right atrium (the upper right chamber of your heart) and the right ventricle. The pulses help coordinate the timing of these two chambers’ contractions.
- The wires in a biventricular pacemaker carry pulses from the generator to an atrium and both ventricles. The pulses help coordinate electrical signalling between the two ventricles. This type of pacemaker also is called a cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) device.
CONTACT DR DAVID BEGLEY
To make an appointment please contact Dr David Begley’s Private Secretary, Ruth Littlechild on 01480 364 112 or please use the contact form.
If you have experienced symptoms you might think are related to heart rhythm disturbance or have been diagnosed with an arrhythmia please discuss with your general practitioner whether referral is appropriate.