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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think that a very low heart rate variability on my Iwatch is BAAAD?

37 replies

ExShield · 01/06/2020 19:39

Mine is 24.Shock

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ExShield · 01/06/2020 22:30

elitehrv.com/heart-rate-variability-vs-heart-rate

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ErrolTheDragon · 01/06/2020 22:36

The Apple Watch version 4 or higher can essentially do a single-lead ecg. It's doing more than just 'detecting beats'. I'm not sure if any of the other fitness tracker devices are doing this sort of thing.

ErrolTheDragon · 01/06/2020 22:37

Can anyone point me to a link for HRV by age?

The link I put in upthread had a graph of ranges by age.

CherryPavlova · 01/06/2020 22:42

ExShield you said your pulse was 24. The interval would obviously affect the pulse. Two fingers and a watch with a second hand would probably reassure you.
The more long gaps between the beats the slower the pulse, obviously.

You are unlikely to have a pulse of 24 and be asymptotic.

ExShield · 01/06/2020 22:44

No I didn’t say my pulse was 24. I said my HRV was 24ms. Completely different thing.

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ExShield · 01/06/2020 22:54

Thankyou. With respect that’s from 1996 and even the Framingham data has been re run repeatedly since then. But yes it outlines that there is an independence prognostic quality to HRV data.

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Bananarama101 · 01/06/2020 23:07

There are a lot of different measures of HRV, and I'm not sure what one the watch might be using. Some are considered more reliable than others and give a better idea of what is going on. Essentially the nerve that slows down HR (the vagus) works in waves with your breathing (when resting anyway) to cause a slight speeding and slowing known as respiratory sinus arrhythmia (which is normal, not like a bad arrythmia!). The more this happens, the better generally. More vagal activity at rest is protective for the heart, and HRV is a marker of that activity... Anyway, HRV is quite a tricky thing to measure as is effected by a lot of things, including exercise, time of day, menstrual cycle, stress, noise, caffeine, food, hot/cold, posture etc. etc. Without knowing the time period over which it calculates HRV, and what you were doing in that time, it's difficult to draw any conclusions. There's also not really a typical HRV figure you can quote as 'good' or 'bad' really like you can with say resting HR, as they are very individual. What is more useful is in tracking changes over time, and seeing how responds to different things, and might have some prognostic value then in reflecting lifestyle/health changes that could be effecting you.

So in short, I wouldn't say your current reading was very useful in it's own. Chances are if unfit and stressed, then is going to be lower though. It's not going to form the basis of any kind of diagnosis or investigation though, and if you went to the GP and said your HRV was low, they'd probably just look at you a bit strangely.

ExShield · 01/06/2020 23:14

Thanks - unfit and stressed does indeed = lower, but this is an average over a few months and it’s very very low!

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Bananarama101 · 01/06/2020 23:17

Just did a quick Google out of curiosity, and it seems Apple uses SDNN to assess the variability, which looks at the standard deviation of the time interval differences between beats. This is not such a good measure as looks more at overall variability, not so much vagus nerve influenced variability. It also seems to take readings periodically through the day, which is likely to throw up all sorts of stuff as HRV will change a lot depending on what you're doing. The best thing to track it would be a set time at morning of eve, when doing nothing else. First thing when still in bed most ideal, but that's rather lifestyle permitting

Floatyboat · 01/06/2020 23:23

Well it's bad, but maybe only very slightly I think. Seems a strange think to focus on. There's more obvious indicators of cardio vascular health.

Lumene · 02/06/2020 22:43

Thanks @Zampa

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