Table of contents:
- What controls heart rate?
- How to measure heart rate?
- A fast heart rate indicates a heart attack
- The heart beats fast only when under stress
- You don't need to check your blood pressure when your heart rate is normal
- Slow heartbeat = your heart is weak
Even if you are not an athlete, you need to know about heart rate to help you detect heart problems early. Heart rate is an important indicator of heart health. Unfortunately, few people know exactly what heart rate is.
Heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute. A person's heart rate is influenced by individual factors, such as age, body size, heart condition, weather, physical activity or exercise, emotions, and certain medications that can affect heart rate.
What controls heart rate?
The sino-atrial nodes are small cells in the heart that are located in the right atrium. The sino-atrial node is a natural pacemaker whose role is to increase or decrease the heart rate based on information from nerves that respond to body temperature, joint movement, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood.
How to measure heart rate?
The trick is to place your two fingers - index finger and middle finger - at several points where the pulse can be felt, such as the wrist, on the side below your thumb. Feel and count your heart rate in 30 seconds, then multiply this number by two to find your pulse rate per minute.
Here are some heartbeat myths you should know about:
A fast heart rate indicates a heart attack
Myth. If you feel your heart beating fast, you could be experiencing palpitations. Palpitations or fast heartbeat is a condition in which you feel your heart beat faster. However, if your heart is beating continuously, consult a doctor immediately to get the right diagnosis and treatment.
The heart beats fast only when under stress
Myth. Even when you are under stress, for example when you get scared just before a presentation or after you hit something while driving, your body will release chemicals that trigger your heart to beat faster; however, stress is not the only factor that makes your heart beat fast. Other factors that can trigger this condition are high physical activity, emotions (feeling very happy or anxious or sad), or certain medical conditions.
You don't need to check your blood pressure when your heart rate is normal
Myth. The two are not always in touch. When your heart beats normally, it's not necessarily that your blood pressure is normal - it can be low or high. Therefore, even though your heart is beating normally, you still need to check your blood pressure regularly.
Slow heartbeat = your heart is weak
Myth. A slow heart rate can indicate that you are in good health. Trained athletes who have healthy heart muscles do not need to beat fast to meet the body's oxygen needs. As long as you don't feel dizzy, have trouble breathing, or have chest pain; a slow heart rate does not indicate that your heart is weak.
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