What is the term for a rapid heart rate?

The term for a rapid heart rate is tachycardia. In adults, clinicians generally use the term when the resting heart rate exceeds 100 beats per minute. The word combines the Greek tachys, meaning “rapid,” with kardia, meaning “heart.”

Tachycardia is a description of rate, not a single disease. The heart may speed up normally during exercise, fever, fear, pain, or stress; this is often called physiologic sinus tachycardia. It can also result from an electrical problem, anemia, dehydration, thyroid disease, medication, or another medical condition. Abnormal fast rhythms include supraventricular tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia, which arise from different parts of the heart.

Palpitations are the sensation of noticing a heartbeat and may occur with a normal, fast, or irregular rhythm. Arrhythmia is the broader term for an abnormal rhythm, while bradycardia means an unusually slow heart rate. A fast pulse accompanied by chest pain, fainting, severe breathlessness, or collapse requires urgent medical attention.