sick sinus syndrom

hi robin near byron bay, what is sick sinus syndrome, I keep reading peoples post and they mention this a lot, I just have a p.m and quite healthy for the rest accept for food sensitiveties due to maybe being celiac and I had chrohn's disease but that has been cured, not the celiac yet but I'm positive about that.I live in vic. australia the town euroa famous for being out beer sorry I mean water this year. My Mum also has a pm she will be 92 next month, I take care of her at home here. well it's past my bed time, I missed you in the chat room tonight, I always seem to be there at the wrong time but I did chat with cyclebob & jessy once a couple of days ago, jessy lives only 1/2 hour away from my uncle in canada. take care every one and God bless

3 Comments

Sick Sinus Syndrome

by SMITTY - 2007-09-24 11:09:23

Hello Craftygirl,

Maybe this will help.

Sick sinus syndrome (SSS) is a type of bradycardia* in which the sinoatrial (SA), or sinus node is not working as it should. The sinus node is a small cluster of cells in the upper right chamber, or atrium, of the heart. It contains special "pacemaker" cells that generate the electrical signals that regulate the pace and rhythm of the heartbeat. These signals travel from the sinus node to the AV node. From the AV node, the signal is conducted along pathways that spread into the ventricles, causing them to contract and pump blood into the lungs and throughout the body.

Sick sinus syndrome (SSS) is not a specific disease, but a group of signs or symptoms that indicate the SA node is not functioning properly.

Some patients with sick sinus syndrome also have rapid heartbeats (tachycardia). Or the heartbeat alternates between too fast and too slow. This is called bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome. Often there is a long pause (asystole) between heartbeats, especially after an episode of tachycardia.

SSS affects about 3 out of every 10,000 people. It becomes more common as we age.

Smitty

*Bradycardia, as applied to adult medicine, is defined as a resting heart rate of under 60 beats per minute, though it is seldom a problem until the rate drops below 50 beat/min.
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Hi Marie

by busby - 2007-09-25 08:09:16

Sorry I got a little confused by who was who. I thought you were Janelle. Just noticed your post above. How did you know I lived near Byron Bay.
Robin

Sick sinus syndrome

by busby - 2007-09-25 08:09:49

Hi Janelle
Thanks for your message. Actually that is the first message that has been sent to me. I seldom go online, but I check this site regually.I didn't realise you were a fellow Aussie. One of my sons lives in Vic. He works as an editor on the show "Thank God You Are Here".There are quite a few other Aussies on this site.
Smitty described SSS pretty well. It is a really general term. Basically, the doctors don't know exactly what is wrong, they only know that the problem originates from the sinus node (our natural pacemaker) as there is no P waves on your ECG when you have an attack. I was first diagnosed with SSS as I flatlined in emergency for almost a minute and it was called sinus arrest. Since then I have been diagnosed with neurocardiogenic syncope (NCS). This is when the nervous system (particularly the Vagal nerve) goes a little awry and switches off the electrical system in the heart as well as causes the blood vessels to dilate. This is what would happen in a normal faint as well but it goes to the extreme. The PM now stops me fainting but I still have strange episodes that give me a weird feeling in the head.
Hope your Mum is going well. I still don't understand why she had her episodes at 3 hr intervals. Maybe the pacemaker was doing it's check and the faulty leads were showing up then.
Robin

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