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Travel Insurance For Heart Conditions

Travel insurance for people with a heart block can be arranged by World First who are international travel insurance specialists. World First offer cheap holiday insurance for travellers with heart conditions and annual travel insurance for UK residents with medical conditions who find it difficult to buy travel insurance with cover for their heart problems and associated medical problems elsewhere. For more information about travel insurance for heart patients and a quote for your holiday insurance call World First FREE on 0800 096 46 02.

Heart block is a condition where the heart beats irregularly or much more slowly than normal. Sometimes the heart may even stop for up to 20 seconds. It is caused by a delay or disruption of the electrical signals that usually control the heartbeat.

A healthy heart in an averagely fit person beats between 60 and 80 times a minute. A heartbeat is when the muscles of the heart contract and push blood around the body. These muscle contractions are controlled by electrical signals that travel between the heart's upper chambers (the atria) and lower chambers (the ventricles).

If you need travel insurance to cover pre-existing medical conditions call World First Travel Insurance

World First travel insurance operate their own in-house screening service.
Once you have spoken to us about your health problems you will be told if you can buy travel insurance for your pre-existing medical conditions and whether any special terms will apply to your travel insurance policy.

All calls are treated in the strictest of confidence.

If these electrical impulses are delayed or sometimes stopped (partial heart block), then the heart may not beat regularly. If the electrical signals are stopped completely (complete heart block), then the heart will only beat around 40 times a minute.

Heart block reduces the heart's efficiency in pushing blood around the body. This means that the muscles and brain may not be getting enough oxygen for them to work properly.

Types of heart block:
There are different types of heart block; first degree (the least serious), second degree, and complete or third degree (the most serious).

First degree heart block usually refers to skipped beats, or some other kind of disruption, and often doesn't need treatment.

In second degree heart block, some of the electrical signals don't reach the heart, causing 'drooped' beats. It can cause dizziness and sometimes a pacemaker is needed.

Third degree heart block is when the electrical signals don't travel between the upper and lower chambers of the heart. It's most common in adults with heart disease, and can have serious complications, such as heart attack, if it's not treated with a pacemaker.

Symptoms

The main symptoms of heart block are a slow or irregular heartbeat. Symptoms can also include:

Shortness of breath
Palpitations (when you notice the irregular heartbeat)
Fainting or light-headedness
Discomfort or pain in the chest.

Heart block usually happens to older people with a history of heart disease or smoking.

Heart block can make it very difficult to exercise, because the heart doesn't pump fast enough to get increased levels of oxygen to the muscles and organs.

If left untreated, heart block can lead to a stroke and heart failure

Source:
NHS Direct Online. © Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and Queen’s Printer for Scotland.