Unexplained drop in resting heart rate increases heart disease risk
By (0) An unexplained drop in resting heart rate as a child can increase risk for later development of heart failure and heart disease. Photo by Semevent/Pixabay
Children who have a sudden lowering of their resting heart rate as they move into young adulthood may be at increased risk for heart disease later in life, researchers report.
For their new study, they assessed data from 759 Black and white participants in the Augusta Heart Study, which was designed to evaluate the development of risk factors for heart disease.
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It followed young participants in the Augusta, Ga., area, who were healthy and aged 5-16 at the time of enrollment, as they grew into adulthood.
Medical College of Georgia investigators report a significant association between a faster decrease in resting heart rate from childhood to adulthood and a larger left ventricle, the heart s major pumping chamber, over a 21-year period in hundreds of individuals who were healthy at the start.
Rapid Decline in Heart Rate may Indicate Future Heart Trouble by Angela Mohan on April 14, 2021 at 4:35 PM
Heart rate decline predicts the risk of future cardiovascular diseases, as per the researchers of the Medical College of Georgia who report a link between a faster decrease in resting heart rate from childhood to adulthood and a larger left ventricle over a 21-year period in hundreds of individuals who were healthy at the start.
The faster decrease in heart rate also was associated with a higher level of pressure inside the blood vessels of the body, which the heart has to pump against to get blood and oxygen out, they write in the journal Acta Cardiologica. The associations were generally stronger in Blacks.
Augusta Chronicle
Dr. Gaston Kapuku watched the blood drain from the nurse s face as she sat across from him looking at the machine measuring his blood pressure. I saw her getting pale, almost shaking and asked her why, he said. She said, I don’t believe the number I am reading. Let me check it again.
The young cardiologist, who had just left the catheter lab with a throbbing headache, had blood pressure of 220/140. Anything above 180 and above 120, a patient is considered to be in hypertensive crisis” and should get immediate medical attention, according to the American Heart Association.