Arrhythmias can be caused by ageing, a history of heart disease, heart attacks, myocarditis or inflammation of your heart muscle, high blood pressure and sodium or potassium imbalances in your body.
Sometimes arrhythmias are a consequence of a genetic disorder called Brugada syndrome, which can cause a dangerously irregular heartbeat, especially during sleep or at rest.
It is now proven that mutations in the SCN5A gene (which creates sodium channels in the heart muscle cells) are responsible for this genetic condition, which manifests during sleep or rest and results in death, even in people with seemingly healthy hearts.
This was the reason that for a long time nobody could diagnose how Thai young men died in their sleep because of their genetic trait. Brugada syndrome affects about five of every 10,000 people worldwide.
Arrhythmias can be “silent” and show up only during a doctor’s reading or a test.
When they do manifest as symptoms, they can take the shape of palpitations, unexplained chest thumping, dizziness, breathlessness, anxiety and exhaustion.
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