Does calcium increase heart rate?

As living conditions are getting better and better, more and more people are joining the ranks of health preservation, from children to the elderly. Many people have started taking calcium supplements. Babies take milk calcium after birth, older children take high calcium as they grow taller, and middle-aged and elderly people also take calcium supplements to prevent osteoporosis and other conditions. Clinically, calcium deficiency can cause heart discomfort, rapid heart rate, arrhythmia, etc. Therefore, calcium supplementation is necessary. This article introduces some situations of hypocalcemia. Let’s take a look.

Hypocalcemia can cause sinus tachycardia, arrhythmias, atrioventricular block, and in rare cases, congestive heart failure. Please see the introduction for details.

As we all know, calcium is a very important mineral nutrient in our body and is the main component of bones. At the same time, calcium is also very important for our body's physiological metabolism. So, can hypocalcemia cause arrhythmias?

Hypocalcemia refers to an abnormally low serum ionized calcium concentration. However, since only total calcium is generally measured clinically, a total calcium level lower than normal is also called hypocalcemia. Hypocalcemia can cause sinus tachycardia, arrhythmias, atrioventricular block, and in rare cases, congestive heart failure. Hypocalcemia can increase the excitability of the vagus nerve and cause cardiac arrest.

At present, the clinical treatment of arrhythmia mainly adopts different methods according to different pathogenesis. For example, some patients use Western medicines such as isoproterenol and atropine to increase myocardial autonomy and/or accelerate conduction, while others use non-drug therapies such as pacemakers, defibrillators, and radiofrequency ablation. In some cases, methods such as compressing the eyeballs, massaging the carotid sinus, pinching the nose to exhale forcefully, and holding the breath can also relieve arrhythmias by reflexively stimulating the vagus nerve.

In addition, we would like to remind everyone that hypocalcemia is common in newborns and can cause great harm, even taking one's life. Generally speaking, common causes of hypocalcemia are intestinal malabsorption syndrome, chronic renal failure, uremia, hypoparathyroidism, acute pancreatitis, hepatic coma, severe vomiting, diarrhea, vitamin D deficiency, etc.