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If you or your child is at increased risk of arrhythmia, the doctor may want to do a screening to assess the risk of a life-threatening event. Sometimes screening is required to participate in competitive sports. If your child carries a genetic risk of arrhythmia, your child’s doctor may recommend regular screening to monitor your child’s heart or other family members’ health. Heart-healthy lifestyle changes and other precautions can help decrease the risk of triggering arrhythmia.

You may have an increased risk of arrhythmia because of your age, environment, family history and genetics, habits in your daily life, certain medical conditions, race or ethnicity, sex, or surgery.

Arrhythmia is caused by changes to heart tissue. It can also occur suddenly as a result of exertion or stress, imbalances in the blood, medicines, or problems with electrical signals in the heart. Typically, an arrhythmia is set off by a trigger, and the irregular heartbeat can continue if there is a problem in the heart. Sometimes the cause of an arrhythmia is unknown.

The main types of arrhythmia are bradyarrhythmias; premature, or extra, beats; supraventricular arrhythmias; and ventricular arrhythmias.

If you or your child has sickle cell disease, you should learn as much as you can about the disease, including how to prevent and manage complications and take care of your mental health.

In the United States, most people with sickle cell disease are of African ancestry or identify themselves as black, but the condition is also common in people with a Hispanic background.

A blood and bone marrow transplant is currently the only cure for some patients who have sickle cell disease. The goal of treatment is health maintenance to prevent complications and medicines and treatments to manage complications, including chronic pain.

Your doctor may diagnose sickle cell disease based on the results from tests to confirm the results from prenatal or newborn screening.

People who do not know whether they carry an abnormal hemoglobin gene can ask their doctor to have their blood tested. Couples who are planning to have children and know that they are at risk of having a child with sickle cell disease may want to meet with a genetic counselor.

Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease caused by defects, called mutations, in the beta globin gene that helps make hemoglobin.