Can Anxiety Cause Right Bundle Branch Block?

By - Dr Hafeez Arshad

Not that anxiety is any less of a dreadful feeling, imagine what if it blocks the vital vessels of your heart? 

Coming in terms with questions like “Can anxiety cause right bundle branch block?” can be absolutely petrifying. 

Honestly, anxiety is an injurious mental disorder. Not only does it hamper your mind, but also immobilizes your health. It can cause temporary or even lifetime damage to the right and left bundle branch block in the heart, increase hypertension, associate with palpitation and whatnot.

Here is an article on how to deal with this life-threatening feeling to prevent your heart from blockages.

What is the Right Bundle Branch?

The atrioventricular bundle of His continues along the conducting system part. It forms inside the interventricular septum, which is the joining of the membranous and muscular part of the heart.

The right bundle branch is supplied by most branches of the left anterior descending artery and it supplies the nearby conducting region. Its main function is to maintain an electrical rhythm with the left bundle branch and function them at the same pace.

With a block on the right bundle branch, obstacles are created in the syncing of the heartbeats. The right portion signal transmits are delayed than the left resulting in the creation of an irregular heartbeat. 

The pacemaker-like electric signals inside the heart, start off from the sino-atrial node through the upper Chambers of atria contracts go the atrioventricular bundles and lastly enters the bundle branches before ventricles. 

Evenly, the signals are transmitted to both the ventricles and they work in a perfect tempo. For any external or internal discrepancies, the body may lose rhythm and initiate irregular heartbeats. 

The right bundle branch blockage will limit the blood supply to the right ventricle. It makes the ventricle function less and even fail at times. Normally, it can happen due to the following reasons:

Most people of extreme old age suffer from right bundle block. Also, babies form with congenital anomalies may also suffer from right bundle branch block.

Can Anxiety Cause Right Bundle Branch Block?

Any kind of stress is able to cause blockage to any part of the heart. Arrhythmia, palpitation, sweating, nervousness, anxiety are key reasons for any kind of blockage to the heart. The right bundle branch block is no different.

Besides anxiety, the right bundle branch block can also originate from underlying heart diseases or chronic lung disorders. This is because of the additional stress imposed on the heart vessels. These are subjective to permanent damage to the heart.

So, now, how will you know that you are having anxiety? The initial response starts off with a pounding heart and sweating. 

Pinning down a few symptoms of anxiety, we can have:

Anxiety can be caused by several reasons. Some of which are:

Genetic Cause

 Anxiety may run in your family. Ask your parents if they have had anxiety disorders before. It is highly likely for you to get it from them.

Brain Chemistry

Your brain might not have the necessary capacity to control extreme emotions like fear or emotions. In such cases, anxiety appears. 

Environmental stress

Childhood abuse, depression, death of a close relative, post-traumatic disorder, accidents.

Drug Misuse

ADHD drugs can cause anxiety. Some of them are Amphetamine, dexmethylphenidate, lisdexamfetamine, methylphenidate, etc

Medical Conditions

Diabetes, heart problems, thyroid problems, respiratory disorders can cause over-exasperation and eventually lead to anxiety.

How Does Anxiety Cause Right Bundle Branch Block?

Anxiety refers to a hyper-excited state. With any incident, you have a trigger and you start to feel anxious about it. 

Increased palpitations at the time of anxiety escalated your heartbeat way more than normal. The heart rate and the breathing rate increase and thus a constant pressure is created in the heart. 

If you are previously a patient of heart defects or even if your heart continues to have to beat at such a high rate, chances are right you may have a first or second-degree heart block. This May further proceed to a heart attack and ultimately heart failure. 

As we know by now, a block creates when there is an irregular rhythm of heartbeats. The ventricles or atrias, not beating in due time and in rhythm initiate an imbalance and so a block is created. 

The tempo of the beats must be maintained properly. For this, anxiety, anger, or any other extreme emotions should be kept away. 

Remedies

Can anxiety cause the right bundle branch block?– it can. But how to prevent that? 

To not have a heart block in the near future, it is important that you correct your existing physical lackings. For doing that, you may focus on a few of the techniques mentioned below:

Do What You Love Most

The best answer to controlling your anxiety is to make sure you do what you do best. Activities that keep your mind healthy and hearty should be included in your daily life. It could be your favorite hobby or spending quality time with your loved ones, but the answer is right here!

Physical Exercise

Any sort of physical exercise helps to keep your mind fresh and healthy. As you hit that gym, the adrenaline rush takes you over and improves your mood. It helps to shove off the negativity from your system. The happy hormones produce more when you are exercising in your favorite forms.

Meditate

Meditation helps to calm the anxiousness in your mind. The restless feeling tends to go away. As a result, you may stop yourself from having health hazards like high blood pressure, palpitation, etc, which may be a key factor in having a heart block.

Sleep

A good six-hour sleep is very important for an individual to stay healthy and hearty. Sleep, not only keeps you healthy but also keeps you relaxed beyond expectations. It resets your body and starts to make it function properly.

Psychotherapy

Anxiety often deals with clinical depression. In such cases, you might be needing a psychotherapist. A psychotherapist will guide you through your anxiety and make sure you gradually walk out of it. 

Such procedures include methods of calming down. Due to this, the heart beating will not be out of pace and eventually, chances of heart block will be less.

Medicine

Allopathic treatment besides psychotherapy can help in both cases of cardiac or mental health issues. Benzodiazepines help to treat generalized anxiety disorders. Palpitations and tachycardia are dealt with it too. 

Balanced Diet

Every health problem is triggered by a bad food habit. In case you are wondering can anxiety cause the right bundle branch block to you after constant episodes of bad health problems, you might want to improve your diet. 

The cardiac health resets by having numerable healthy food. A nutritious balanced diet will refer to a good physique and which in return will minimize risks of problems like heart blocks, heart attacks, and even anxiety. 

Ignore Bad Habits

Alcohol drinking, smoking, drug addiction are habits that must be avoided to prevent both anxiety and heart block. Several drinks have the ability to cause nervous stimulation. These induce hyperexcitability in the muscle and triggers condition like anxiety.

FAQs

Who are at risk of developing heart blocks?

Answer: If you have the following medical problems, there is a good chance for you to have heart blocks:

What happens if your right bundle branch is blocked?

Answer: The basic symptoms of any blockage to the heart include: 

In Right Bundle Branch Block, a very frequent symptom is syncope. Constant dizziness is also a feeling often seen in patients with right bundle branch block.

What are the causes of the right bundle branch block?

Answer: A right bundle branch block may happen from some specific causes. Along with general causes, the following conditions can cause the right bundle block: 

What are the complications of a right heart block?

Answer: If you have the common categories of diseases and also a heart problem, it puts you at a bigger risk.

The heart is the major organ of the body that circulates blood across the body. The ventricles and the atria must be beating in sync. If not, the heartbeats slow down and then may lead to fainting, anxiety, and even death!

Conclusion

Can anxiety cause the right bundle branch block? Truth be told, it can. Anxiety can cause blockage in both the bundle branches and thus start a heart attack. For the sudden shut down of the blood supply, the heart starts to slow down and may become fatal for an already immuno-compromised person.

With the health of correct therapy for management of anxiety and a nutritous diet, any similar situations can be avoided. Therefore, you may stay healthy and kicking!