Jeffrey S. Rose, MD

The recommendations for dietary modification start now, not tomorrow. Therefore you will have a better outcome if you eat a healthy diet. Fast food is processed food. Food should be in nature's own wrapper and protein can come from nuts, fish, and other sources besides animal fat. The most important thing is to get your cholesterol down to levels you were born with (LDL-C 20-40 to halt the progression of problems in your other arteries which you are at risk for). You don't go to Wendy's for green vegetables.

Absolutely, each pound of extra weight is a mile of additional capillaries (the microcirculation); if that is the case, the extra weight is not inert. The small blood vessels contribute to your arrhythmia by releasing unwanted inflammatory molecules. This annoys the heart's electrical system.

This particular specialty of cardiology is concerned with the electrical function of the heart which can either go very slow or go very fast or become annoyingly irregular. Some of the electrical abnormalities require testing but for the most part serious thinking. The modern electrophysiologist is able to identify the abnormal tissue in the heart that causes electrical disturbances and on many occasions destroy a tiny piece of the heart muscle to interrupt the electrical disturbance and help the patient either feel better or in some cases live longer. Often times patients who have had large heart attacks may be at risk for dropping dead and many more people drop dead in the United States who have never had a previously diagnosed heart problems. Electrophysiologists implant internal cardiac devices that can give a patient an electric shock and restore the heartbeat. This can help many people who otherwise would have died suddenly. Sometimes the risk for sudden death runs in families. Sometimes these electrical abnormalities happen in little children and people who are in the prime of life. As with anything as we get older our risk for having electrical problems goes up.

I haven't been reading anywhere from 10 to 200 EKGs daily for 40 years. There are all levels of understanding. Basic skills are taught to paramedics and first responders, more details to the ER doctor, the internal medicine and hospital doctors have much more knowledge about EKGs and cardiologists know quite a bit but it is the cardiac electrophysiologist that is responsible for understanding all of the details. Certainly there are a lot of books available and online material. If you really want to know though you have to study.

It doesn't matter if you walk in the morning, at noon or in the evening. It's good for your heart and the rest of you to keep active.
I like to go for a walk in the morning because it improves my outlook for the whole day

Serious arrhythmias are those that cause either a cessation of the function of the heart or a heartbeat so fast and disorganized that the heart cannot pump blood. In the first example,, cessation of heart function. Is called that asystole "no contraction". That could be a primary lack of electrical function. Think of the reason for a pacemaker.
The fastest and most disorganized ventricular arrhythmia is called ventricular fibrillation. The heart must always be a functional syncytium propagating electrical impulses between communicating cells so that the complex and varied components of the heart can act as a single contractile apparatus. When all the electrical communication doesn't work neither does the heart muscle

No. There is no ferrous material in cardiac stents.

The heart rate will vary with respiration. It is normal in most people, but usually seen in young people and children. It is a normal variant and not a problem.

The diagnosis is made by examining the EKG. This disorder of the heartbeat is very common. It can be responsible for a stroke in many patients. These strokes are preventable with specific medications.