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Could human lives be extended by slowing down our hearts? Triggered by the observation that mammals with a higher heart rate live shorter than those with a slower one, this is the question that Dr. Herbert J. Levine, an eminent cardiologist and professor emeritus at Tufts University School of Medicine, asked in his 1997\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0\u201cRest Heart Rate and Life Expectancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To this day, his question has not been fully answered. But several recent studies have found important links between slower hearts and longer lives, elevating resting heart rate to the level of an important health indicator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the increasing popularity of smartwatches and other tracking devices, people are more aware than ever of their own resting heart rates, a measure defined by the number of heartbeats per minute while at rest, like when you\u2019re sitting or lying down, no sooner than two hours after exercising. But how exactly to interpret that number, and what to do with that information, might not be so clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To complicate things further, resting heart rates can widely vary from person to person, as much as 70 beats per minute, according to a new study<\/a> that looked at the largest dataset of daily resting heart rates ever collected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most established fact about resting heart rate is that it\u2019s inversely associated with a person\u2019s level of physical fitness. In other words: The fitter you are, the lower your resting heart rate (elite athletes, for example, tend to have notoriously low heart rates). This happens because, as you exercise, your heart muscle becomes stronger and requires fewer heartbeats to pump blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When trying to figure out the reason why people with lower resting heart rates seem to live longer, researchers assumed that there wasn\u2019t a direct, causal association. The main assumption among scientists was that people with a slower heartbeat just happened to be fitter and physical fitness is what made them live longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn general, when we talk about resting heart rate, there is pretty good evidence that lower is better.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n That assumption was put to test by a study led by Dr. Magnus T. Jensen, head of the department of cardiology at the Copenhagen University Hospital Amager & Hvidovre. His team analyzed data<\/a> from almost 2,800 middle-aged men followed for 16 years in Copenhagen. \u201cEvery individual had had an assessment of VO2 max, which is a measure of fitness level,\u201d Jensen says. That data allowed them to conclude that there was in fact a direct association, independent of physical fitness, between having a lower heart rate and a lower risk of mortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn general, when we talk about resting heart rate, there is pretty good evidence that lower is better,\u201d says Barry A. Franklin, PhD, director of preventive cardiology & cardiac rehabilitation at Beaumont Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what\u2019s considered a \u201cnormal\u201d range for a resting heart rate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the American Heart Association, a normal resting heart rate ranges from 60\u2013100 beats per minute<\/a>. Most experts agree with that statement, although it is not an absolute consensus, particularly on the higher end. \u201cI respectfully disagree with calling 95 or 100 beats per minute normal,\u201d Franklin says, adding that this range might already be linked to a lower life expectancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This week\u2019s comprehensive Scripps Research study published in PLOS<\/em>, showed that what is considered \u201cnormal\u201d for one person may be abnormal for another. Individuals\u2019 average resting heart rates were found to be as low as 40 and as high as 110 beats per minute. The researchers took data from wearable devices worn by more than 92,000 people over a median of 320 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study also highlighted that an individual\u2019s resting heart rate is pretty much consistent over time, and so deviations from the typical rate could be an important sign that something is wrong. \u201cThe variability of the resting heart rate may provide additional information, not only for cardiovascular health but also for pulmonary status, infectious disease detection, reproductive health, and possibly more,\u201d says Giorgio Quer, first author of the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the limitations of the research is that it only tracked the participant\u2019s \u201cnormal\u201d heart rate, without looking at their actual health. We do not have information on the health condition of the individuals, so we cannot say that \u201cnormal\u201d also means healthy, says Quer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are things you can do to slow it down to a healthier rate. One of the most important is exercising regularly. \u201cEven a brisk walking program can lower the resting heart rate in 10\u201312 beats per minute,\u201d says Franklin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your resting heart rate is consistently above 100 beats per minute, with or without symptoms, you should be evaluated by a doctor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n While there are drugs, such as beta-blockers, that can lower your resting heart rate, healthy people with a high resting heart rate but no actual symptoms such as shortness of breath or chest pain, shouldn\u2019t take them unless advised by their health care provider. \u201cWe don\u2019t know if intervening on heart rate with a drug would prolong these people\u2019s lives. But we do have an astounding amount of information to prove that lifestyle interventions \u2014 weight loss, increasing fitness, lowering blood pressure \u2014 are associated with both a lower heart rate and longevity,\u201d Jensen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your resting heart rate is consistently above 100 beats per minute, with or without symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, or dizziness, you should be evaluated by a doctor, said Dr. Matthew Martinez, chair of the American College of Cardiology\u2019s sports and exercise cardiology section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should also pay attention to sudden changes. \u201cYour heart rate will vary during a day, after caffeine ingestion, a stressful moment, and even from walking down the hallway,\u201d says Martinez. \u201cBut rapid changes \u2014 of more than 20 beats per minute within a minute at rest \u2014 should be brought to the attention of a health care provider.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although having a lower heart rate is generally considered a good thing, there are a few exceptions, Martinez notes. If you are neither an athlete nor a regular exerciser, and your heart is beating under 60 beats per minute (a condition called bradycardia), that may be a sign of specific medical conditions such as thyroid disease or a problem caused by abnormalities in the electrical conduction system, especially if symptoms such as dizziness and lightheadedness are present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts find it positive that people are more familiar with their heart rates. \u201cIt means that people are getting more engaged in their health,\u201d says Seth S. Martin, director of the advanced lipid disorders program of the Ciccarone Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine. \u201cBy being better informed and taking a more active role in their health, they can prevent downstream problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tracking your heart rate could also be useful for detecting certain heart rhythm disorders such as atrial fibrillation, which can be asymptomatic, according to Dr. Nino Isakadze, a clinical cardiology fellow at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. A recent study funded by Apple, the Apple Heart Study<\/a>, concluded that an Apple Watch app was able to identify atrial fibrillation with an 84% accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s important not to get overly focused on the tracking. \u201cThere is a risk of information overload,\u201d says Martinez. \u201cI often advise patients about the anxiety that comes with that information and how to handle that data. It is an important indicator, but a fixation on the actual number is sometimes harmful too.\u201d He advises his patients to check their resting heart rate no more than three or four times a week, always choosing different times of the day and no sooner than two hours after exercise and one hour after caffeine intake. Many tracking devices, such as the Apple Watch, show the average daily resting heart rate, which provides a more reliable picture of the speed of your heartbeat than checking it at any given moment of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is certainly a risk that tracking heart rate can create anxiety which can sometimes lead to elevated heart rate and unnecessary doctor visits and testing,\u201d said Isakadze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interpreting the data can also be challenging. \u201cThere are lots of reasons why your heart rate can be abnormal, either high or low. Devices can identify abnormalities, but accuracy and utility are still yet to be determined. Identifying all this information without understanding what to do with the data can be potentially harmful,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jensen shared an anecdote of how people could use that information productively in their daily lives. When he asked his Uber driver in London if he was enjoying the heart rate feature of his Apple Watch, the man told him he had noticed an increase in his beats per minute after starting his own business and going through a high level of stress. That made him think about his well-being and lead him to take a few days off.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is known<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhen and how to control your resting heart rate<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe pros and cons of heart rate trackers<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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