Health Tip: How a Pacemaker Helps the Heart
Why the device is prescribed
Posted 3/28/08
(HealthDay News) - A pacemaker is a small, battery-powered device that is implanted in the skin of the chest or abdomen, and helps regulate the heartbeat.
Here are reasons for why a pacemaker may be prescribed, courtesy of the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:
- To correct a slow, fast or irregular heartbeat.
- To ensure that the heart's ventricles contract normally, in cases of atrial fibrillation.
- To regulate the electrical signals between the upper and lower chambers of the heart, and in other cases, between the ventricles of the heart.
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