Howie Mandel has an irregular heartbeat
If you’re like me, British, then probably the last time you saw Howie Mandel on the telly was in St. Elsewhere, where he played Dr. Wayne Fiscus (the guy with the big hair.) Now he’s the US equivalent of Noel Edmonds, presenting ‘Deal or No Deal’, that show which has inexplicably captured worldwide attention by getting people to open boxes completely at random.
Howie’s just been admitted to hospital in the states with an ‘irregular heartbeat’, a term which includes the A-Z of cardiac abnormalities, from atrial fibrillation to; well, there must be some heart abnormality beginning with Z, only I can’t think of it right now.
If you are a fan of medical dramas like St. Elsewhere or ER, or even Britain’s Casualty or Holby City, you might have heard a normal heart rhythm referred to as ‘sinus rhythm’, or ‘normal sinus rhythm’. What, I hear you yell in frustration, has my heart got to do with sinuses? They’re in my head, aren’t they?
The term ‘sinus’ is used to describe many areas of the body – the thing they have in common is that they are usually holes or hollowed-out bits. Like the sinuses on your head and face, and like a small area on your heart in which the ‘natural pacemaker’ resides. This area of specialised neuro-muscular tissue kicks off at around 70-80 times per minute under normal circumstances, and keeps you heart beating regularly. It can be upset by all sorts of things. One of the commonest reasons for an oddly-beating heart among the general population who attend emergency departments is use of artificial stimulants.
