Ask a doctor on the topic of Internal medicine

Questions about heart rhythm disorders

January 16, 2015 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Dear Dr. Hoelling,

I have a few more short questions for you and thank you in advance for your answers.

How does one feel with benign and malignant heart rhythm disorders?

Would malignant rhythm disorders be noticeable during sports?

Can rhythm disorders be serious even if there is no decrease in performance, vision problems, or similar symptoms during palpitations or rhythm disorders?

Can emotional stress lead to rhythm disorders?

If someone has been engaging in competitive sports and other activities intensively for over 8 years, could malignant rhythm disorders still occur suddenly?

Thank you for your honest answer.

Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Good day,

I am happy to respond to you once again.

The only way to distinguish this is through long-term ECG monitoring; very malignant disorders can of course lead to collapse, but even with benign ones you may feel dizzy.

During exercise, malignant disorders would stand out because they would prevent the heart from pumping properly.

Without clinical symptoms, the disorders cannot be serious.

Emotional stress can cause heart palpitations, but not malignant arrhythmias.

Malignant disorders can also occur after intense exercise, for example after myocarditis or (in older age) due to atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. However, they do not appear suddenly out of full health.

Sincerely, Dr. Höllering