title: Ask the doctor. After several episodes where my heart suddenly started racing, I was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia. My doctor said I could try gagging or coughing to help slow down my heart when these episodes occur. Why would these things help?
authors.forename: Deepak L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Bhatt
mesh_terms: D003371:Cough; D005683:Gagging; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D013617:Tachycardia, Supraventricular / Q000517:prevention & control*