What should be your Resting Heart Rate
When you are doing some exercise or any type of workout or some exciting moment like going to meet your girlfriend for the first time , your heart rate rises .It is quite normal . Though when you are simply sitting and relaxing or watching TV keeping an eye on your resting heart rate may be quite boring but it is also important . Monitoring resting heart rate is also important as it can give you some vital clues about overall health of your heart . A consistent higher / lower resting heart rate means your heart is not working properly .
What is Resting Heart Rate
You might know that even if you don’t always feel your heartbeats it always keeps beating . Number of times your heart beats in a minute even while you are doing nothing or just resting , is your resting heart rate . Your resting heart rate can differ from others and it can vary throughout the day depending on your activity or even mood - like if you are under stress or anxiety .
Resting heart rate depends on The following factors -
Age
Your fitness level
Your activity
Heart disease or other diseases like diabetes , cholesterol level etc.
Your medications , certain medicines can raise or lower it
Smoking or drinking
Your current Emotions or feelings
External factors like ambient temperature .
Usually the normal heart rate is 72 beats per minute but it can vary anywhere between 60 to 100 . Be aware that Normal heart rate does not mean normal blood pressure . Resting heart rate may be somewhat lower.
How to know your resting heart rate
It is very simple to measure your heart beats . Nowadays several devices ( such as smart watches or any other wearable device or oximeter or BP monitor ) are available which can give digital readings of your heart rate . But they are not as accurate as when you measure it manually yourself.
To measure your resting heart rate -
Before measuring ensure that you are relaxing - not doing any major activity or not just finishing your workout or just consuming caffeine or liquor. You can measure it by measuring your pulse . For this , while sitting , first try to feel the pulse which you can easily get at the side of your neck ( beside the windpipe ) or at the underside of your wrist closer to your thumb side . Once you feel your pulse start counting it for 30 seconds with the help of your watch or timer . Then multiply it with two . This number gives your heart rate . You can also directly count for 60 seconds .
Resting heart rate can be high or low depending on certain factors . If the heart rate is consistently above 100 bpm or lower than 60 bpm ( if you are not an athlete ) , it is concerning .
Higher Heart Rate
Resting heart rate can be between 60 ( or even a bit low ) to 100 . But if itś consistently high, like 100 or so , it is not good for your heart . The more your heart beats the more stressed is your heart . Regular higher heart rate is called Tachycardia and it can be dangerous . It can be a cause of heart disease or it can even be fatal .
The factors that affect heart rate are as mentioned earlier .Your doctor may suggest a means to lower it , like -regular exercise , relaxation ways - yoga , meditation , losing excess weight , restricting some medication or providing alternate medicines , avoiding / limiting smoking and liquor .
Symptoms of Tachycardia -
Feeling of racing , pounding heartbeat or flopping in chest ( also known as palpitations )
Chest pain
Fainting
Lightheadedness ( syncope )
Fast pulse
shortness of breath
Low Heart Rate
Though less common some people might have resting heart rate lower than 60 beats per minute . If the health of your heart muscles is good , it need not work as hard to keep a steady heart rate . If you exercise regularly and are physically fit you can have a resting heart below 60 , athletes resting heart rate can be as low as 40 beats per minute . Some blood pressure medicines like beta blocker can lessen your heart rate . But if you are not active and not taking medicines and still have a lower resting heart rate , it is a cause of worry . This can be a sign of Bradycardia ( lower heart rate ) which causes poor oxygen supply to some vitals organs .. Bradycardia can happen at any age and background but it is more seen in adults above 65 years .Heart rate naturally slows down as we grow older . It is more common in older people while asleep .
Consistent Slower heartbeat (bradycardia) can prevent the brain and other organs from getting enough oxygen. Though our brain weighs only 1.6% of total body weight , despite its small size and weight it needs about 15 - 20 % of blood pumped by heart . If the brain fails to get enough blood it can disrupt its normal functioning and subsequently malfunctioning of other organs .
( Some of symptoms of Tachycardia and Bradycardia are common )
Symptoms of Bradycardia -
Chest pain
Confusion or memory problem
Fatigue
Shortness of breath
dizziness , lightheadedness , fainting
Irritation , agitation or other personality changes
Palpitations ( unpleasant feeling of your own heartbeats without using your hands to feel it )
Some of main Causes of low Heart Rate -
Electrolyte deficiency like lack of minerals like Calcium , magnesium , potassium .
Anorexia Nervosa - This is an eating disorder and one of the main reasons .
Inflammation in the heartś inner lining .
Bacteria that cause most throat infections , if not treated in time can damage the heart particularly heart valves .
Rheumatic fever - Can cause heart disease several years later .
Heart blockage
Heart Surgery
Radiation therapy
Medications
Lyme disease - Caused by bacteria from tick bites
