Question: I am a 22 year old male and pretty fit. A while back I was having sensations like skipped heartbeats. A cardiologist ran some tests and everything seemed normal and perfect. He said not to worry. Now I notice that this sensation comes back when I lift heavy objects. My heart starts beating fast and feels like it skips beats. Should I get checked out again?

Dr. Hibberd's answer:
These extra beats disrupt your regular heart rhythm, sometimes causing you to feel a flip-flop or skipped beat in your chest. Such skipped beats arising from the atria are called premature atrial contractions (PACs), while premature beats arising from the ventricles are called premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). PACs and PVCs do not necessarily indicate heart disease. Many normal, healthy individuals, including athletes have PACs or PVCs. Premature ventricular contractions are very common — they occur in most people at some point. If you have occasional premature ventricular contractions, but you're an otherwise healthy person, there's generally no reason for concern, and no treatment is needed. However, they might also indicate the presence of potentially serious underlying heart disease. Your cardiologist must have told you which type of skipped beat you have. It is always a good thing to get checked up on a routine basis to see nothing abnormal is going on.