Post created by Katelyn
We have all heard the phrase “my heart skips a beat” in many instances. It is used in conversation and in many songs like Olly Murs “Heart Skips a Beat” for example:
“'Cause when you hold me like this, you know my heart skips, skips a beat
I know I should, but I can't leave it alone
And when you hold me like this, that's when my heart skips, skips a beat”
People may use this phrase in conversation or while singing along to lyrics of a song, but do people actually know why their heart skips a beat? Or what is happening to their heart when it skips a beat? It may be the lyric in your favorite song, but it is a real thing that can happen to the heart.
Like said in Olly Murs’ song, the heart may feel like it is skipping a beat when you see someone you love or are attracted to. This may be more of a result of the secretion of different hormones, like thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) for example, that is making your heart speed up in this situation. Not as much the result of your heart actually skipping a beat and having a heart palpitation.
When the heart is actually skipping a beat, it is not just from getting “butterflies” or having a giddy feeling. It is actually called a heart fibrillation or mitral valve prolapse. Heart fibrillations can be caused by many things, but it is mainly when the automaticity of the heart gets thrown off by misfiring of the electrical signals in the heart. Or mitral valve prolapse, which is when one of the valves of the heart goes backwards or the wrong way and it gives a feeling of discomfort or a heart murmur.
So next time you hear or sing along to a song about a heart skipping a beat, remember what can actually happen in the heart when your heart skips a beat.
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