By Malcolm Brand, MD
Our hearts come with a natural pacemaker that regulates the rhythm of our heartbeat, slowing down when we’re at rest and appropriately speeding up when we’re active. Some people, however, develop faulty conduction systems in their hearts that prevent the rhythmic electrical impulses from traveling through the heart muscle. The result is often a heartbeat that is too slow. This condition, called bradycardia, is very effectively treated with the implantation of a permanent pacemaker.