The heart beats at 70-80 beats per minute and these beats are generated from an electrical system of the heart. They start in the right atrium of the heart and are transmitted by different circuits to the rest of the heart. Sometimes they can be blocks or breakdown in these electrical circuits and result in a slow heart rate that can be dangerous to life requiring a Pacemaker or a device that generates the electric current for the heart. They are battery operated and are implanted by your cardiologist alongwith help for the surgeon. They are many different type of pacemakers and the best one for you is decided by your heart doctor or cardiologist.

The recent advances in medicine has made us understand that synchrony is essential for good functioning of our heart and loss of this can exaggerate heart failure or even be the cause of heart failure. These are called Cardiac resynchronising pacemakers and help treat heart failure.

Sometimes we experience palpitations which is what we feel when our heart rate is very fast. When the rate exceeds over 200 beats per minute it can be life threatening and requires urgent treatment. When medical management fails and the patients have frequent life threatening events they require a device that will deliver the shock to correct the heart rate and rhythm. These are called defibrillator devices or AICD’s. They are implanted like any other pacemaker and are the standard of care in patients with poor heart function and frequent episodes of fibrillation.