Premature Ventricular Contractions
What is Premature Ventricular Contractions?
Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are abnormal heartbeats that originate in the heart’s ventricles, occurring earlier than expected during the cardiac cycle. These extra, often irregular, beats can sometimes be felt as palpitations or skipped heartbeats by the individual experiencing them. While occasional PVCs are common and usually harmless, frequent or sustained PVCs may indicate underlying heart conditions such as electrolyte imbalances, heart disease, or excessive caffeine or alcohol consumption. Monitoring and, if necessary, treatment by a healthcare professional are recommended to address any concerning symptoms or underlying issues associated with PVCs.
Natural Ways to Find a Cure for PVCs
- Please note, it’s important to follow the advice of your doctor and not ignore your treatment plan in favour of the following suggestions – but these may also help you with your recovery.
- One of the first elements to help you find a cure for PVCs is looking at your diet and how much processed food you’re eating which can lower your magnesium intake. This is often associated with experiencing extra beats and disturbance of heart rhythms.
- Therefore, an option for those looking for a cure for PVCs is by taking magnesium supplements, as it’s hard to accurately measure total magnesium levels present in the blood.
- Another aspect of your diet to consider when finding a natural cure for PVCs is avoiding foods which contain high levels of some preservatives shown to cause a disturbance in your heart rhythm. These include monosodium glutamate (MSG – E621), disodium guanylate (E627), disodium inosinate (E631) and disodium ribonucleotides (E635) which are often used for flavouring.
- Sulphite preservatives are another ingredient to avoid (E220-228) if looking for a cure for PVCs. They’re found in things like white wine vinegar and wine. Also, take note of E280-283 preservatives and cut down on these if possible.
- Those looking for a cure for PVCs should also look at how much aspartame, as well as bread and dairy products they’re consuming.
- If you’ve been looking at your diet as a natural cure for PVCs, you should also consider drinks to avoid, including alcohol, caffeine and carbonated drinks.
- Improving your PVCs and ectopic heartbeats can also involve examining your sleep habits, as sleep disturbances such as a lack of sleep or sleep apnoea can also cause a depletion in your magnesium levels.
- Exercise as a cure for PVCs should only be used if your doctor has confirmed there’s nothing to worry about with regards to your extra beats. Always let your doctor know if exercise makes your ectopics worse, as they should get less frequent even with some gentle exercise to increase your heart rate.
- Stress and anxiety may also contribute towards palpitations, so if looking for a cure for PVCs, this is something you should look to reduce. You may even be anxious about your health, so it’s important to find some ways to manage this to stop it making your symptoms worse.
How to Diagnose the Cause of Your Palpitations
If you’re experiencing frequent palpitations or are worried about anything, the best thing to do is speak to your doctor. With ectopic heartbeats, they’ll most likely recommend you have an electrocardiogram (ECG) which will record your heart’s electrical activity, including its rhythm. You can continue as normal while wearing the monitor, but you may have a button to press each time you feel your heart skip a beat. This will help your doctor to examine what you’re experiencing in relation to your palpitations. While there could be a chance of an underlying cause which needs further investigation, in many cases, the ectopics aren’t causing major issues. However, for those whose lives are blighted by the symptoms they feel, it’s important to manage PVCs.
