Pacemakers send electrical signals to the heart to ensure that heart rate is never too slow.
You might only need a pacemaker for a while, like when you’re healing from surgery.
If you have a heart condition, you might need a pacemaker for life.
Verywell / Cindy Chung
How Pacemakers Work
Pacemakers do not take over the work of the heart.
Rather, a pacemaker helps regulate the timing and sequence of your heartbeat, as needed.
After it is put in, the pacemaker monitors your heart’s electrical activity.
This “decision making” is done by the pacemaker on a beat-to-beat basis.
In most people with pacemakers, the heart’s own electrical system is generating most of the heartbeats.
The pacemaker functions more like a safety in the event help regulating the heart rate is needed.
Others may need may need pacing nearly all the time.
If their pacemaker stopped working, they would have serious symptoms.
The generatoris like a tiny computer that has a battery and other electronic pieces.
It is inside a hermetically sealed titanium container.
Most modern pacemaker generators are about the size of a 50-cent piece and about three times as thick.
A leadis a flexible, insulated wire that carries electrical signals between the pacemaker generator and the heart.
When the pacemaker decides that pacing is needed, it prompts the heart chambers to pace.
Pacemakers are also “programmable,” and the functions they do can be changed at any time.
Your healthcare provider can easily reprogram your pacemaker to have it pace at a different rate.
These pacemakers are called rate-responsive pacemakers.
These let the heart rate go up as it should when someone is, say, exercising.
And when they are at rest, the pacemaker is usually not pacing.
Rate-responsive pacing allows a person to be much more active with much less fatigue.
The first pacemakers could only pace at one specific heart rate.
Newer technology allows for more specific responsiveness.
Who Needs a Pacemaker?
There are a few reasons why the heart might not beat correctly.
Pacemakers are commonly used to treatcardiac arrhythmiasthat cause a person’s heartbeat to be too slow (bradycardia).
For example,sick sinus syndromeandheart blockcan cause bradycardia.
Thesymptoms of bradycardiainclude weakness, fatigue, lightheadedness, dizziness, or fainting.
A pacemaker can make these symptoms go away.
These pacemakers are calledcardiac resynchronization therapy(CRT) devices.
They can improve function and symptoms in many people with heart failure.
What Is Life Like With a Pacemaker?
Most people with a pacemaker find that it greatly improves their quality of life.
They may even live longer with a pacemaker than they would have if they didn’t have one.
You may need to take steps in certain situations to avoid problems with your pacemaker.
You also need to know how to recognize that something is wrong with the gadget.
Can I Use a Cell Phone With a Pacemaker?
Cell phones do give off some electromagnetic waves but you may not need to completely avoid using one.
Just attempt to keep it away from your chest (about 6 inches) when you’re using it.
The same goes for wireless devices like Bluetooth headsets and walkie-talkies.
You will need to have your pacemaker checked from time to time.
Once the battery starts to get lowusually after 7 to 10 yearsthe pacemaker generator willneed to be replaced.
This can usually be done as an outpatient procedure.
Summary
A pacemaker can be a lifesaving gadget.
Living with a pacemaker does mean you’ll have to stay aware of how it’s working.
Occasional bradycardia might not require treatment, but prolonged or severe cases usually require medication or a pacemaker.
Failure to capture is a malfunction of a pacemaker.
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