The appearance of extrasystoles on an ECG in a teenager
Another predisposing factor to the appearance of extrasystoles on an adolescent ECG is an overload of the heart muscle during puberty. The fact is that different elements of the cardiovascular system develop at a given time at a different speed – as a rule, the heart grows much faster and more actively than blood vessels, which leads to an increase in blood pressure. This can be easily understood by imagining how a powerful pump tries to pump as much fluid as possible through a narrow opening. Increased load on the myocardium leads to increased excitability of its contractile elements, which facilitates the occurrence of extrasystoles. In adolescents with such a heart overload, extraordinary contractions are not observed at rest, but during exercise, the child may complain of heartbeat and interruptions in heart function. In addition, high blood pressure during this period can cause dizziness, headaches and flickering flies before the eyes. This state also disappears without a trace after puberty, when the work of the heart and the volume of the circulatory system begin to match each other.
If an adolescent 12-14 years old on an ECG, extrasystoles were found without other signs of organic heart damage (for example, congenital defects or consequences of a rheumatic attack), then such a child is simply sent for a second analysis after two weeks. If the conclusion “extrasystolic arrhythmia” is confirmed, then the adolescent is put on record in the cardiologic dispensary. There is nothing terrible in this, it just means that every six months the child will be examined by a cardiologist, moreover, such children are exempted from physical education, since physical exertion can provoke more severe heart rhythm disturbances. As a rule, after adolescence, the extrasystoles on the ECG disappear and the young person is removed from the register without consequences. If the arrhythmia remains unchanged, then they try to find its cause and begin drug therapy.
Although adolescents who have an irregular heartbeat, and require more careful medical attention, parents should treat this as part of the maturing of the young body, as a temporary condition that passes completely a couple of years. There is no specific treatment for this transient pathology, it is recommended only a high vitamin ration, especially rich in such vitamins as C and E – the main antioxidants of the body. It is also necessary to monitor the balance of inorganic ions, especially magnesium and potassium – in conditions and diseases accompanied by loss of fluid (taking diuretics, diarrhea, loss of electrolytes and sweat in hot weather) it is necessary to bring products rich in potassium (dried apricots, baked potatoes) into the diet and adequately compensate for the loss of minerals (for example, by taking Regidron solution in case of diarrhea). The lack of these ions in adolescents with extrasystoles and arrhythmias may result in more severe heart rhythm disturbances.