Living With Your Pacemaker

The heart beats (pumps blood) because special cells in your heart (the heart's natural pacemaker, called the "sinus node") produces electrical impulses.

As long as the electrical impulses flow down the heart's walls at regular intervals, your heart pumps at a rhythmic pace. Sometimes, through, something happens to interfere with how the electrical impulses of your heart's natural pacemaker are made or flow down your heart. When this occurs, the natural pacemaker can't do its job as well as it need to.

Demand Pacemaker
A kind of pacemaker with a special circuit that senses your heart's own electrical activity. It shuts off the pacemaker when your heart is beating well enough by itself, and turns the pacemaker on again when necessary. The kind of pacemaker you have depends on the kind of heart problem you have. Demand pacemakers are commonly used.

Fixed-Rate Pacemaker
An artificial pacemaker that produces constant electrical impulses at a rate preset by our doctor.