What is my heart rate: slow, normal or high? Do I have arrhythmia?
What is my heart rate: slow, normal or high? Do I have arrhythmia?
The pulse, i.e. our heartbeat, reflects the heart's activity. That's how we can tell how fast our heart is working.
Do you know that this is important for a number of factors?
As with pressure, there is a normal value for pulse, too. Neither low nor high pulse is good for us.
Of course, the heart rate is influenced by several factors, such as:
- age
- sex
- physical and mental strain, stress, fear or anxiety
- trauma and bleeding
- disease
- increased body temperature
- medications
- stimulants, coffee, drugs, smoking
Not all abnormalities mean that there is a disease/a pathological condition. For example, athletes have a lower resting pulse. Their heart muscle is used to working, so when at rest it works at a lower frequency.
On the contrary, a higher pulse is produced by physical activity, mental agitation, and stress.
What pulse values are low, normal or high?
Less than 60 = bradycardia, or slowed rate, therefore low pulse.
Normal heart rate = 60 to 90 beats per minute.
High heart rate is 90 or more per minute = tachycardia, or rapid activity.
Some sources report tachycardia values above 100/minute.
The pulse varies by age. In children it is higher even under normal physiological conditions.
When searching for information, one may find minor differences in values by publication and author.
Normal heart rate is considered to have the following values:
- newborns (up to the 28th day of life): 140 to 180 per minute,
- infancy to 1 year of life: 110 to 160 beats per minute,
- a child up to 10 years pf age: approximately 90 to 140 beats per minute,
- persons around 16 years of age: 70 to 100 pulses per minute,
- adults: 60 to 80 pulses per minute.
