Abnormal heartbeat, arrhythmia can be prevented: study

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Arrhythmia or abnormal heartbeat, in most cases, can be considered harmless. However, it may also indicate something sinister, like a possible heart disorder. While skipping heart rhythms cannot be stopped, a new study suggests that there might be a way to predict its occurrence, leading to a possible treatment.

Eureka Alert reports that according to a new research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), fatal and genetic cardiac arrhythmias called the “long QT syndrome” show abnormal electrical patterns or "alterans" in repetitive alternate sequence of long and short beats. Once this is seen, medical experts can easily detect the irregularity in heartbeats. It is difficult to figure out but the researchers have also found a solution to this problem and that is mathematics.

The researchers share that their findings can help improve the cardiac device equipped to detect arrhythmias, creating a possibility of better diagnosis and treatment. The math formula that they have developed can also be used in predicting climatic, ecological and financial patterns, which the researchers believe will benefit other branches of science, not just the medical aspect.

To test their study, the researchers took cells from the hearts of chicks that are still in the embryo and grew clusters of cells that beat like a human heart, UPI writes. A drug is used to induce irregular rhythms and they used a camera to record every change in the heartbeats. Dr. Alvin Shrier, the chairman of physiology at the university and co-author of the study, shares that their experiment imitates what a patient suffering from arrhythmia feels.

Dr. Shrier and his team discovered that there is a transition period wherein the rhythm varies in speed and occurrence, ending in a messed up pattern. Right after the transition, alterans join in, also providing a variety in interval. However, they noted that as the intervals become longer and the differences become apparent, that is the time when a clear pattern emerges.

Futurity Organization adds that the research has opened a lot of possibilities in detecting, predicting, and eventually preventing cardiac arrhythmias. The researchers believe that through enhanced studies, people at risk may get an early warning from experts, avoid experiencing a would-be stressful event, and prevent damage to the heart. Lead author Thomas Quail shares that they believe there will be a time when experts and device software will be able to predict when an individual's heart is nearing alterans, making it easier to reset the heartbeat at an earlier time.

Physiology professor and chairman of cardiology Leon Glass states that predicting dynamical transitions in cardiac rhythm was the main goal of the study, but due to the math formula they have used, it can also benefit other science aspects, showing a very promising discovery.