Heart Palpitations

Your two hormones, estrogen and progesterone levels are changing during menopause and this can results in heart palpitations. Hot flashes and sweating can also occur at the same time. Although it is a typical symptom during menopause, you should take note of any irregular heartbeat to discuss with your doctor whether to rule out any heart related disease. More often that not, it is caused by stimulants such caffeine, nicotine, diet pills and alcohol intake during menopause. Heart palpitations can also happens during exercises. If this is the case, take a break and inhale using your nose a slow, deep breaths then exhale through your mouth. Do this for 5 minutes and it should help you to re-establish a normal heart rhythm. Meditation programs such as reiki and yoga can also help you especially during menopause. Heart palpitations on its own is usually harmless but watch out if it is accompanied by dizziness, fainted or feeling tightness in the chest as you may be at great risk of heart attack. In this case, treat it as emergency and you should go to the hospital immediately.

For women that had already experienced menopause, their risk of heart attack increased tremendously. If you have not done so, get hold of your family history with regards to heart disease problems. Take note of any abnormal menopause heart palpitations, watch your diet and refrain from smoking. Studies have shown that the risk of heart attack in women especially over 50 years and had experienced menopause is the same compared to men. While men can recover quite well from heart attack, women on the other hand would probably not survive during or just after the attack.

This increase in risk can be attributed to the hormone estrogen which among other things acts to protect the heart. Estrogen helps with both the overall risk and the lipid profile which is major contributing factor of heart attack. Once it is gone as in the case of menopause, the heart is no longer protected by estrogen which makes it vulnerable. Most women that had heart attack are post-menopause. Only a small portion of cases involves women that has not yet menopause but they usually caught it due to smoking.

It is also quite difficult to identify potential heart attack victims in women as compared to men as they do not show the symptoms except for heart palpitations that also not easy to tell. Tiredness and feeling discomfort are subtle indicators to detect serious heart risk. That is why heart attack in women cannot be detected until it had developed into an advanced stage, which is likely to be fatal.

The key for women to relief menopause heart palpitations and heart attack risk is to eat healthy, do regular exercises and keep an eye to the cholesterol and high blood pressure level. Take note that your heart is more fragile and you should be aware of the possible risk to it during menopause. Certain herbs like motherwort, hawthorn, strawberry, ginseng and few others can also help you manage heart palpitations. Always let your doctor know which herbs that you are taking.