Heart Health factors & indicators

"... In a 2011 study published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, a research team examined the medical records of 7,147 French citizens with an average age of 74 who participated in a larger health study. These subjects had their baseline resting heart rate taken twice at the outset of the study (subjects were asked to rest in a seated position for five minutes before each reading). Two years and four years later, the subjects returned to have their resting heart rate measured. Along with resting heart rate, the researchers collected blood, urine, blood pressure readings and medical history questionnaires at each visit. At an average of five years after the outset of the study, family physicians of the study participants were queried to determine if the participants were alive or dead.

The researchers collected and analyzed all this data and arrived at some amazing conclusions:[1]
• Study participants with higher RHR Resting Heart Rate >79 beats per minute had an 85 percent increased risk of cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality compared to those with lower RHR (<62 beats per minute).
• The odds ratio of all-cause mortality rose 22 percent with each increase of 10.6 beats per minute in RHR. {E.g. >68.6 has 63% greater risk}
• These results were the same regardless of any other risk factor evaluated in the study including age, hypertension, diabetes, prevalent cardiovascular disease, cancer or disability.

Some might say that these results don’t apply to younger people because the average age of the study participants was 74. For such skeptics, we offer the following insights by the same research team in a 2005 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In that study, 5,713 French men aged 42-53 were originally enrolled between 1967 and 1972. They were followed until 1994, at which time the research team compared deaths in the population against baseline resting heart rate measures taken at enrollment along with other diagnostic data.
The research team found that all-cause mortality was lowest in the men with baseline resting heart rate of less than 60 beats per minute. For men with a RHR greater than 75 beats per minute, the relative risk of all-cause mortality was nearly 100 percent higher. Even among men with RHR between 70 and 75 beats per minute, there was over 50 percent greater all-cause mortality risk.[2]..."

From: http://www.peakhealthadvocate.com/1...ODE&cp=IPIE&ct=20110603&cc=eletter&en=1400306


Billy T adds what he thinks is even more important indicator: pulse rate recovery rate.

I have not done it for more than a year, but I took my pulse count for 30 seconds when just getting out of the pool (24 laps or more non-stop swim) then waited 30 seconds to start a second 30 second count period. I won't try to recall the percent reduction in on average 60 second recovery from memory, but do it again and post later. I think any vigorous exercise with an abrupt stop will do with immediate start of first 30 second count. Perhaps others will match my 30/30/30 test schedule and report here too?

Give both 30 sec. count rates, and your 5+ minute seated resting rate too plus your age and sex if you will. (We can do the 1 minute % reduction, but please give it). To really make this a useful data base we need many to participate and it would be nice to know your body mass index too (or your height & weight) and self rated exercise index (Couch potato who only bends elbow to drink beer = 0 to "mile a day" runner =10)

BTW one of my college fraternity brothers was and had been for years definitely a 10 on this exercise index and his resting heart rate was between 45 & 50 as I recall. I suspect due to a large muscular heart, which may not be long term healthy, but I don't have any reason to believe that, do you?

 

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I won't ask you why this isn't in the Health and Fitness forum, Billy, but will participate as much as I am able for the minute.

Uh...I run 10 miles a day, 7 days a week, so I guess that part makes me a 100 (?) My BMI is about 30 (5 feet 7 inches, approximately 200 pounds) I am a karateka and routinely lift weights however, so my bones are more dense than most people's and I have a high percentage of muscle mass.

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When I get back from my daily run my heart rate is about 85 bpm, resting is about 55 bpm. EDIT: recovery period is about 1/2 hour for heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar.

Hope this helps, bro.

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So physically fit people live longer. Ho hum.

Wake me up when you discover something new....

 

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Yeah. We have known for a long time that low resting heart rates are better than high ones.

 

Thank for data. I looked for such a thread in couple of forums, but did not find it. If it exist I hope moderator of this forum will move it that that thread.

Do you know if 55b/m is typical of physical fitness nuts, like you? (No insult, only admiration, mixed with a little envy as all I do is swim and walk instead of ride when feasible.) Is my memory of friend getting down to only 45b/m wrong? That was when he was in this early 20s. Perhaps you are older and there is an age effect?

To reply to Skeptical & WillNever: What is new in the OP's quote is quantative data about how much longer you will, on average, live. (years vs resting heart rate data.)

 

Billy T: resting heart rate tends to be lower in young adulthood, then it rises throughout middle adulthood, and then it starts to decrease again in older adulthood (assuming there are no underlying problems like heart failure). The reason for the decrease in heart rate in older adults is due to a decreased response to stress hormones (norepinephrine, cortisol) which are always present to some degree even when you are at rest, as well as decreased electroconductivity of the heart itself. For these reasons, older adults often become dizzy after standing quickly and become injured. This "orthostatic hypotension" is due to their heart rate not responding quickly enough to the rapid gravity shift that causes momentary decreased cerebral bloodflow. This is one of the major contributors to hip fractures, which is a rather significant cause of death in older adults.

55 bpm isn't a low heart rate for an older adult. It is probably useful indicator of heart health in that age group. But more of a "fun" sort of gross screening tool.

I've had older patients with atrial fibrillation (a common but lethal cardiac dysrhythmia) whose heart rates were ~48. That was their baseline.

Better indicators of heart health are stroke volume, ejection fraction, and a cardiac cath that visualizes the vessels of the heart. A cardiac cath is invasive, but the first two can be calculated through an echocardiogram (an ultrasound).

 

Thanks for the infro, but I would think that decreases conduction, especially in the Bundle of Hess, which leads the electrical pulses down from the SAN, Sino Artrial Node, in the upper part of the right atrial chamber to the rest of the heart, mainly the right side, would lead to missed beats not a change in bpm rate. The SAN is the heart's primary pace maker, but there are a few backup systems as having heart stop entirely is said to bad for you.

I occasionally experienced "tunnel vision" for a few seconds after getting up from full seated rest, but that was more than a decade ago. Tunnel vision is caused by lack of adequate blood in the peripheral part of V1, visual cortex.

 

The SA node does not innervate only the right side of the heart, Billy T. Who told you that? An impulse from the SA node travels only a short distance to the AV node which is located in the myocardium in the center wall of the heart, from which point it innervates both sides of the heart equally. Also, it's bundle of His, not Hess. And I think you mean heart block, not heart stop. The SA node is just a group of pacemaker cells. The SA node is innervated by the vagus nerve and spinal nerves. As you get older, the responsivity of the node to outside signals decreases. As well, conduction time within the heart increases because impulse speed decreases. Increased conduction time results in a slower heartbeat, not just missed beats. Here is a table that I scanned for you, which summarizes age-related heart changes. Thank me later.

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Notice specifically the "conduction" portion of the table, and where it suggests bradycardia (symptomatic HR of <60) must be assessed for. This is due to poor conduction.

I don't know what you mean by "tunnel vision", but impaired vision can be caused by a great number of things. I realize that you are a layperson Billy T, but orthostatic hypotension is an expected finding in an older adult, especially if they are on antihypertensive meds. Baroreceptors in the carotid arteries which are responsible for signaling the heart to increase cardiac output in response to decreased bloowflow become less responsive as you get older. This causes a delay in compensation of the heart to adjust when you go from a sitting/lying to a standing position. The decreased cerebral bloodflow impairs more than just your vision. Your sense of proprioception and balance are affected as well.

 

I post mainly from memory - so slightly faulty memory told me that. Consequently, I thank you now, least I forget later. Most of what I remember about the heart comes for minor contact /effort on APL/JHU’s rechargeable pacemaker, made back in the days when pacemaker need minor surgery every two years for battery replacement

Ours used the same reliability and technology we built into satellites. We licensed it to MEDTRONICS* back when it was tiny company. Doctors did not like it much - they wanted biannual fee for replacing the battery. A few years later the power demands of the electronics were and greatly reduced and batteries improved some so many non-rechargeable pacers out lasted the patients with them and market for our rechargeable (low frequency RF thru the chest) design disappeared.

It is well named – everything but very central vision goes black – like looking thru a tunnel. I did not have any other symptoms. As I recall, I investigated a little and discovered that the occipital lob does either uses more blood or has weaker supply out in the peripheral parts, which do not process the central field of view. Anyway, after investigation, I did not worry more about it as it happen only a few times each year and it has been many years since I had "tunnel vision" (Perhaps I don't get so energy intensive to cause it now?) I am a little bit hypoglycemic – have been most of my life and that can make me a little dizzy, until I stop doing whatever is using a lot of energy. Often I may have some warning in the form of slight hand tremor. Perhaps always and I just don’t notice.

* I'm not sure but it may have been the origin of their name.

BTW I had a "stress EKG" about two years ago, my first. Dr (or medical technician ?) increased the speed of the treadmill in steps while watching his display of signals from ~10 electrodes on me. After several speed steps he said: "OK we're done - no obvious problems, but I said: "Make it go faster til something shows - I get much more tired than this swimming." He said "I can't and you would fall off if I did." so I think my heart is OK."

 

Ah! You are a heart specialist Will? Great! I have an online friend who is also in that field, I listen to what he says about that subject.

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Thank you for the information that you have just provided here. We could certainly use your input in the Health forum!!!!

Billy, I am 60 years old and do take Avapro, an angiotension agonist and sodium specific diuretic for "borderline hypertension". (details on request) I must admit that I am somewhat of an extreme non-professional athlete, for several reasons, most of which are personal health related. I just last month had an EKG that was spot on perfect, as per my Internist.

As Frag would tell you, the rest have to do with my beautiful, wonderful Yellow Labrador Retriever, whom I am madly in love with, despite her need for constant exercise. The wife knows about this....and I am very clear that I am setting an example for my teenaged son.

I have experienced "tunnel vision" on several occasions in my life now, all were self defense situations, excepting my first degree black belt testing, upon which I voluntarily brought it on for a very difficult break.

That condition makes it possible to do things that most people could not even dream of doing. Being able to bring it on at will is a super power indeed. I must give thanks to my Taekwon Do instructors for teaching this to me. If I reach into my mind and throw that big red switch, I can literally punch a hole in a concrete block without harm to my person. That is close enough to a super power for me.

The collateral benefit is the ability to consciously control subsystems that are under subconscious control, like heart rate and blood pressure.
Consider the implications of that.....

 

Nah, I am a nurse. Cardiac nursing is an interest of mine, so I know it well. I used to work on a telemetry unit.

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It seems that you picked up quite a decent bit of knowledge on the subject, good job!

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Thanks Fraggle. I did not realize I had power outside of the forum I moderate. Also thanks for your data.

Also I seldom look this far down in the main list of forums - I had forgotten this forum existed. Why I did not originally post this thread here. I think I can safely claim to be the most ignorant moderator of sciforums procedures.

 

I was very poor undergrad at Cornell, always on the lookout for quick way to earn a few bucks. As I recall I got about $20 for about an hour of just sitting in a chair in tiny bathing suit, but that chair was hung from a scale and over deep tub of water.* They were not interested in me, my fat content, etc. Their study was to be on old people. I was just the "live practice body" so they would have the procedures well developed to not scare the old people they would test later. I am not sure, memory fails, but think they made a movie of me being dunked to show the old people later that it was easy - nothing to worry about.

While there, they offered to feed me for a month but I could not eat anything else and had to bring my feces back in a bag. - I let that job go as was already washing dishes for my meals at a fraternity house, DEK, the "drunkerds of the hill." Their social manager asked me to bar tend at their parties and despite the $50/ party offer, I honestly said I don't know how to mix drinks. He said the brothers will make their own, you job is to see they don't steal any cases of liquor. I said I can do that, but I will steal a bottle. He said if I only lose a bottle I'll give you five bucks more, so for a year I was the party bartender at DEK too. I never got the extra $5. When night was over there were always several empty slots in the cases I could not fill with empty bottles not even using the empty bottle I had stolen at the last party and brought back.

* The metal chair made even a fat person fully sink for a few seconds. They wanted the weight in air and completely under water.

 

Fraggle

Your BMI is 26. 26 to 29 is classified as 'overweight'. However, in your case, that is a very good thing. In fact, you need a few more kgs. When a person passes 60 years of age, they need to carry a little more fat as an 'emergency reserve'. The reason is because older people are very prone to a wide range of illnesses that cause rapid weight loss. A person carrying too little weight can die very quickly! A number of good scientific studies show higher survival in those older people with the extra kilos.

Of course 30 plus is classified as 'obese', and even an older person should not be obese. But overweight and fit is a good combination for someone who is closer to 70 than 60.

My own BMI is 28. The strange thing is that I have just started putting on muscle, and my weight remains exactly the same. I have just retired, and I am now putting in hours of physical work each day doing landscaping on our property. Despite the extra muscle, I weigh exactly the same.

 

It has been cold in Sao Paulo, so I have not yet gone to indoor pool but here is my data: almost 75 years old, 81Kg and 186 cm tall and now, while having been sitting and typing on computer for more than hour, (some thinking too) pulse rate is between 59 & 62 bpm (not too easy to measure even on the neck - at first I thought I was dead.)

BMI calculator at: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmi-m.htm gave 23.4

later by edit: Half jogging and half the distance in brisk walking for 8 minutes got my pulse up to 105 bpm measured in first 60 sec at end of 8 minutes and brisk walk part to clock, but as I recall with 30 minutes of steady swimming it got to 120 bpm

 

Like the bumble bee that does not know aerodynamics has proven it can not fly I did not know I could not move, so I did. It was easy to do.