Resting heart rate can indicate future health?

[moutonfou]

Just read an interesting article from Harvard Medical School: www.health.harvard.edu/blog/resting-heart-rate-can-reflect-current-future-health-201606179806

TLDR: having a resting heartrate at the higher end of the 60-100bpm 'normal' scale can be indicative that your heart is having to work harder and can indicate increased future risk of heart disease.

Just took ours whilst lying in bed, mine was 56 (do a lot of running) but DH's was 88 which was a bit worrying as he is overweight. I didn't tell DH why I was measuring - just said I was curious. But probably good that we've got a bit of a health kick planned from tomorrow...

Eek mine was just 78

They say it's best to do it when you wake up whilst still in bed - mine is about 10bpm higher now than it was this morning :)

72

my fitbit says that mine averages at 76, but it's 94 right now and I have seen it go up to 120. I don't know how acurate they are.

Your heart rate gradually decreases as you get older and bigger. 60-100bpm at rest is fine, if you are exercising then it should go up.

Long distance runners are well known for having lower heart rates, they often end up with pacemakers in later life.

Your heart rate also goes up when you have an infection.

There is a lot more to things than just heart rate.

Children naturally have higher heart rates, they start off as babies with 200+ bpm so please no one take your child's pulse and think they are headed for ill health.

Mine and my
Mums are really high, even though we are both fit and healthy. It's hereditary in some cases.

Eek mine was just 78

Which is completely normal.

Resting HR means after 10 mins bed rest.

Mums are really high, even though we are both fit and healthy. It's hereditary in some cases.

Also very common if you are short.

Kinlo

If you go from supine to sitting connected to a HR monitor, it would not be unusual for it to rise to over 100 and fall back very quickly.

When exercising your max HR should be 220 minus your age, no need to worry if it is over 100 in a normal day.

Also the shape of your ECG is more important than the HR.

Alwaysthesamestory

Ask any cardiologist while I go away and try to find something written.

Yep we are both 5 ft 3

OK one here on Athlete's heart, which is basically a cardiomyopathy.

heart.bmj.com/content/89/12/1455.short

One from the lancet where they put holter monitors on athletes

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673684905932

12 year study on endurance athletes

bjsm.bmj.com/content/33/4/239.short

First line talks about bradycardia being common in athletes

circ.ahajournals.org/content/132/22/e315.short

a couple more

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002870305801899

jap.physiology.org/content/52/6/1652.short

I'm sure you can find some more

Oh and from OP's article

Your RHR, when considered in the context of other markers, such as blood pressure and cholesterol, can help identify potential health problems as well as gauge your current heart health.

So even in the article linked to it is not an indicator in isolation.

Alwaysthesamestory

No one was discussing mortality.

I also didn't mention harm.

It is not uncommon for athletes to have low resting HRs and that they can go so slow that it causes symptoms, something a pacemaker alleviates.

Vague end points showing changes in echo measurements don't translate to worsening mortality

Do you even know what the measurements in echo mean?

Just how many pacemakers have you implanted? Or programmed?

How many holter monitors have you fitted and analysed results?

I am sorry you do not find the peer reviewed medical journals convincing, even the long term studies, however, as I said, I'm sure you can find more.

All in all resting HR ALONE is not an indicator of future problems with heart disease.

Oh and why do you think there is a medical term, "athlete's heart"?

I don't think there is anything new in this information.

'Normal' has always been 60-100 but mine is classed as 'excellent' for my age. It's around 59-60 and I'm over 60.
I do quite a bit of exercise.

mine is 63 first thing in the morning and just before i go to sleep.
im not fit and healthy at all.
to be fair it tends to go up and down quite a lot.
my fitbit gives an average reading of 70 so i guess thats normal.

Mine varies between About 63 and 73 depending on my cycle and whether I've had a lot of alcohol the previous night. Being hot make it higher, too.

I'm not particularly fit, but I am active.

DH has "athlete's heart". Shame if it means a pacemaker, but I think the damage was done 20 yrs ago when his big heart was first identified, so too late to do anything about it now (!) ? Most recent study cited (to claim that athletes have more pacemakers) is 2008. The 2015 guidelines seems to say that pacemakers are rarely needed in the elderly once-were endurance athletes.

I can't find a British statistic for how many of the general elderly population have pacemakers. I'm getting numbers from 2% (Australia) to 87% (USA!). I want to know what the up to date risk ratio is for the athletes compared to general population.

Mine rises drastically from the second it knows it's being taken my blood pressure does the same whenever the gp gets the cuff out!

It's very important to be active.

You'll like this article, Sashh. I admit I don't understand most of it.

Systematic review found only poor quality evidence to link AF with increased physical activity. I am a fan of one of the authors; he's very competent. Another systematic review said that physical fitness was linked to lower risk of AF. Thanks for pointing to the science why there might be a problem. I will keep an eye out for something more convincing.

My heart rate first thing in the morning is around 52-56

When I am awake and sitting on the couch it's between 60 and 72.

Interesting...mine is 45 averaged over 24 hours...can be about 42 resting..less overnight....no real serious exercise but 45 yes old and always do the fitbit 12k steps in a day. Have AF though and take a low dose beta blocker. Resting heart rate was low without the beta blocker as well though.

Mine is always around 80-85 bpm. I've been in hospital numerous times over recent years and they do obs in bed, so I assume this is fairly accurate. I'm hideously unfit, physically disabled and a bit overweight. I do worry and I'm trying to lose weight and increase my mobility, within reason.