Improving your health can lessen the symptoms of arrhythmia and other heart disorders. Underlying heart disease can increase the risk of developing arrhythmias. For these reasons, it makes sense to live a lifestyle that will keep your heart as healthy as possible.

Your doctor may advise you to:

• Eat fewer fats, especially saturated and trans fats.
• Eat more fruits, vegetables, and fiber-rich foods.
• Exercise more.
• Quit if you smoke.
• Cut back on alcohol.
• Find ways to reduce stress.
• Cut back on caffeine. Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, colas and other soft drinks, as well as in guarana, frequently an ingredient in energy drinks.
• Avoid stimulant medications, like over-the-counter cold remedies and decongestants.
• Avoid ephedra and ephedrine, dietary supplements related to adrenaline.

Dietary Supplements and Arrhythmia
Ephedra/Ephedrine
Ephedra, a naturally occurring substance derived from the Chinese herb ma huang, contains an adrenaline-like substance called ephedrine. Ephedrine-containing supplements were widely used for years as aids to weight loss and as athletic performance enhancers, although the drug has been found to be only slightly effective in weight loss. Because thousands of adverse events, including death, have been reported, ephedrine-containing substances have been banned for sale in the US. Unfortunately, they are still easily available through the Internet and other sources.

Ephedrine-containing supplements are associated with more reports of death, cardiac arrhythmia, heart attack, hypertension, stroke, and seizure than all other dietary supplements combined. The drug's potency, and its danger, lie in its powerful action on the sympathetic nervous system, which acts to accelerate heart rate and other functions. Moreover, the drug's effects on the sympathetic nervous system last 10 times as long as those of adrenaline.

The sympathetic nervous system is capable of destabilizing the heart's electrical system. Because ephedrine has such a powerful effect on the sympathetic nervous system, the drug has the potential of creating deadly arrhythmias. Especially when taken with caffeine (as it frequently is), ephedrine can overstimulate the heart and cause it to beat so rapidly (tachycardia) that it can no longer effectively pump blood: the blood is pumped out more rapidly than it can return to the heart. The heartbeat may disintegrate into fibrillation, or uncoordinated quivering, rather than beating. Atrial fibrillation is not immediately dangerous but may lead to stroke, when blood pools in the atria and forms clots. Ventricular fibrillation can result in death within minutes of onset.

Fish Oil
Fish oil, whether consumed in the form of fresh, oily fish or in capsules, has been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of death, heart attack, and heart arrhythmias in people with known cardiovascular disease. Fish oil from oily fish like herring, salmon, mackerel, lake trout, and albacore tuna, is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been found to lower blood pressure and triglyceride levels and to make arteries more flexible.

However, studies on the effectiveness of fish oil in preventing arrhythmia have yielded confusing and contradictory results. While some studies have found that fish oil has a protective effect against heart arrhythmias, others have found that it has no protective effect. One particularly surprising study even found that fish oil increased the likelihood of developing a heart arrhythmia in people with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) who had recently experienced a ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation.

For this reason, consult with your doctor if you have experienced ventricular heart rhythm abnormalities before you consider eating oily fish regularly or taking fish oil supplements. If you have an ICD, your doctor may recommend that you avoid taking fish oil altogether.

More on this topic

What are Arrhythmias? (VIDEO)
What Makes Your Heart Beat?
Blood's Pathway
The Electric Heart
Symptoms of Arrhythmia
Heart Disease & Arrhythmia
Risk Factors
Testing & Diagnosis
Resetting the Heart's Rhythm
A Heart Healthy Lifestyle

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