Following the coxswain’s command each rower rows a stroke, all in unison, and their collective action pulls the boat forward. The individual rowers are like the heart muscle. The electrical signal is like the coxswain who gives the order to row. What does it mean for the heart to beat irregularly?ĭuring a normal heart beat, there is a synchronized electrical signal which tells the heart muscle to contract in unison, causing a single heart beat. Or, in the case of atrial fibrillation (AF or AFib) when the electrical system sends out signals irregularly, then the heart will beat irregularly. If it sends out electrical signals too slowly, then the heart will beat too slowly. For example, if the electrical system generates signals too fast, then the heart will beat too fast. Because the pulse rate or heart rate is controlled by the heart’s electrical system, any problems with the electrical system will cause problems with the pulse or heart rate. In other words, the ECG electrical heart rate = the heart beat = the arterial pulse. Because each electrical signal to beat causes one heart beat, and each heart beat causes one arterial pulsation, we usually consider all three to be equal. An electrocardiogram, sometimes abbreviated ECG (or EKG, referring to the German spelling of the word cardio – kardio) simply measures the electrical signals of the heart, not the actual heart beat or pulse. We can see this electrical signal on an electrocardiogram. The sinus node sends out an electrical signal at regular intervals which tells the heart to beat. This natural pacemaker is called the sinus node. Everybody has a natural pacemaker in their heart that tells the heart when to beat. The heart’s beating is controlled electrically. We can say that the average heart rate is 70 bpm, or that the average pulse rate is 70 bpm – it means the same thing because each single heart beat causes a single arterial pulsation Our natural pacemaker That is why the pulse rate is the same as the heart rate. Each time the heart beats, all the arteries in the body pulsate. The arterial pulsation keeps time exactly with the heart beat itself. When you feel your pulse, what you are feeling is the artery pulsating – expanding or stretching – a little bit with each heart beat, due to the blood which the heart squeezed into it during that heart beat.

This brief stretching of the arteries is called an arterial pulsation. This squeeze causes the arteries to stretch out a little with each heart beat. Each time your heart beats, it squeezes a small amount of blood forward into your arteries. If you have a normal heart rhythm and you feel your own pulse, you will see that your pulse taps out a regular, predictable beat. Those 70 heart beats each minute are all evenly spaced out and they are predictable, like the drumbeat of a song.

An average heart beats about 70 times per minute (beats per minute, or bpm), or a little more than once per second.

AF is an abnormal heart rhythm sometimes referred as an irregular heart beat. What is AF? Why should I monitor for afib?ĪF stands for Atrial Fibrillation, or afib.

Wearable heart monitor