How Blood Pressure And Heart Rate Are Related
Interestingly, your heart rate and blood pressure wont always rise and fall in sync. Even if they both rise, it doesnt mean theyll rise at the same rate. When exercising, your heart rate will increase, but your blood pressure may stay the same or increase to a lesser extent. Thats because the blood vessels increase in size to allow for faster and easier flow. The blood flow may not impact the blood pressure reading to the same degree as it does your heart rate.
How Do You Find Your Pulse
The easiest place to find your pulse is in your wrist.
- Turn your hand so that your palm is facing upwards.
- Now place the three middle fingers from your other hand over your wrist below the base of your thumb.
- Press lightly to feel the pulse under your fingers. If you can’t feel anything press slightly harder.
What Is Maximum Heart Rate
The maximum heart rate is the highest heart rate achieved during maximal exercise. One simple method to calculate your predicted maximum heart rate, uses this formula:
220 – your age = predicted maximum heart rate
Example: a 40-year-old’s predicted maximum heart rate is 180 beats/minute.
There are other formulas that take into account the variations in maximal heart rate with age and gender. If you are interested in learning more about these more accurate but slightly more complicated formulas please see these resources:
- Gellish RL, Goslin BR, Olson RE, McDonald A, Russi GD, Moudgil VK. Longitudinal modeling of the relationship between age and maximal heart rate. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 May 39:822-9. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17468581
- Gulati M, Shaw LJ, Thisted RA, Black HR, Bairey Merz CN, Arnsdorf MF. Heart rate response to exercise stress testing in asymptomatic women: the st. James women take heart project. Circulation. 2010 Jul 13 122:130-7. Epub 2010 Jun 28. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20585008
Your actual maximum heart rate is most accurately determined by a medically supervised maximal graded exercise test.
Please note that some medications and medical conditions may affect your heart rate. If you are taking medications or have a medical condition , always ask your doctor if your maximum heart rate/target heart rate will be affected. If so, your heart rate ranges for exercise should be prescribed by your doctor or an exercise specialist.
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Track Your Heart Rate
Keeping track of your heart rate can give you insight into your fitness level, heart health and emotional health, Dr. Sinha says. Many people are walking around with a resting heart rate that is too high, due to factors such as too much caffeine, dehydration, inactivity and persistent stress. Those extra heart beats over time can be taking years off your life.
Dr. Sinha recommends tracking your heart rate as well as keeping a journal of which activities are causing higher heart rates. Then use that information to make changes, set priorities and move toward a healthier life. If daily stress is raising your resting heart rate, for example, think twice about taking on that extra project at work or school. Consider adding a morning walk or a 10-minute breathing session at lunch.
A final reminder from Dr. Sinha: Get your doctors OK before exercising hard if you have a heart condition or other disorder where exercising may be unsafe. Also keep in mind that certain medications can affect your heart rate, making it a less reliable measurement.
How A Ppg Sensor Works To Measure Cardiac Activity
PPG sensors measure blood circulation, which depends on the hearts pumping quality, and therefore reflects the mechanical activity of the heart. Usually, the PPG sensors are placed at peripheral sites such as the finger, the wrist, or even the ear, and therefore they usually measure peripheral mechanical activity of the heart.
The PPG is an optical technique that measures the perfusion through the blood vessels in the tissue under the sensor. Light from an LED is shined onto tissue, usually somewhere where it is comfortable to wear the sensor non-obtrusively, like the wrist. The sensor itself is typically a diode which translates the detected light intensity into the PPG signal: a series of pulses reflecting the pulsatile flow of blood.
Since the PPG is a measure of blood circulation , it reflects the mechanical activity of the heart rather than the electrical activity of the heart. Hence, it is not precise to refer to time periods between cardiac cycles in the PPG as the RR-interval . Similarly, it isnt precise to refer to the rate of cardiac intervals derived from the PPG as heart rate since it is a peripheral and mechanical signal of cardiac activity. Instead, terms such as the inter-beat-interval and pulse rate are more accurate.
Comparison of the ECG and PPG waveforms and intervals.
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How To Monitor Heart Rate
Individuals can quickly check their heart rate manually by placing the tip of their index, second and third finger on the palm side of their wrist. Furthermore, they can put their index and second fingers on either side of the windpipe.
Apart from that, an electrocardiogram or ECG machine is ideal for checking heart rate. It is a very reliable tool and provides extensive information regarding the heart.
Furthermore, wearable devices available nowadays can easily measure an accurate heart rate. The small arteries within the wrist transiently increase their volume with every heartbeat. As a result, the amount of light reflected back to the conductor in a device changes. The frequency of this fluctuation is the heart rate.
Heart Rate Vs Pulse Rate: The Difference
The cardiovascular system is a complex network of specialized muscle and tissue. They all work together to ensure that oxygen-rich blood is being supplied to the far reaches of the human body. No organ is more important than the brain, which is why when our blood pressure becomes too low we often collapse or faint so our head will be on a lower plane, horizontally on the floor with the rest of the body. This is to circumvent the effects of gravity and help the heart pump blood to the brain more easily.
Our heart rate and pulse rate are key factors to ensuring blood pressure is high enough to sustain the perfusion of blood to all organs of the human body. While both are considered similar each represents a different mechanic of how the body is responding to differences in blood pressure.
Under normal condition, both the heart rate and pulse rate tend to be the same, but in conditions that affect either only the heart or only the blood vessels, these values may differ. The heart rate is the measured value obtained per minute when listening to the sounds the heart produces. The pulse rate is the measured value per minute when palpating the arterial vessels through the sense of touch and is a good indicator of various blood pressures throughout the body.
Your pulse rate is dependent on your heart rate. For if your heart were to stop beating you will not produce a pulse as there is no blood being pumped through the arterial vascular system.
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What Is Heart Rate Variability
Heart rate variability is a measure of the changes in the time intervals between adjacent cardiac cycles as measured by considering these RR intervals. A healthy heart is not a metronome even under stationary conditions, the heart rate will be constantly changing. These variations are complex and non-linear, and are needed by the cardiovascular system to adapt to a changing environment in a quick and flexible way.
A multitude of factors can influence HRV, namely: the autonomic nervous system activity, blood pressure, respiration rate and emotional state. Quantifying HRV can therefore provide valuable scientific insights on these factors, particularly in response to a studied variable .
Effect Of Body Position On Heart Rate
“A normal resting heart rate can be between 60 and 100 beats per minute,” says Peter Santucci, MD, professor of cardiology at Maywood, Illinois-based Loyola University Medical Center. “This rate can vary slightly with body position changes. Most notably, when you go from reclining to standing. Your heart rate may go up by 10 to 15 beats per minute.”
According to the American Heart Association , after you go from a reclining or sitting position to a standing position, the increase in your pulse should settle back down after about 15 to 20 seconds. The AHA notes that body position is not the only thing that affects your resting heart rate. Other factors include:
- Higher air temperature and humidity, which can make your heartwork harder and increase heart rate.
- Emotions like stress or anxiety, which increase heart rate.
- Body size, especially obesity, which can increase the work of yourheart and your heart rate.
- Medications, which can both slow or raise heart rate.
Even though your reclining or resting heart rate can be normal between 60 and 100 beats per minute, very active people can have a resting heart rate as low as 40 and still be considered normal, the AHA says. Also, as explained by Harvard Health, some studies suggest that although a resting heart rate of up to 100 may be normal, a resting heart rate above 80 may indicate a higher risk for heart disease.
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What Is A Normal Pulse Rate
Alright, so now that you have measured your pulse, you probably want to know what the normal pulse rate for human beings is.
The normal pulse rate in children between the ages of 6 to 15 is between 70 and 100 beats per minute, with the average pulse rate for adults being between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
What Are The Similarities Between Heart Rate And Pulse Rate
- We can observe the heart rate and pulse rate until the death of an organism.
- The action of the cardiac muscle initiates both the heart rate and pulse rate.
- Also, they change with factors such as exercise, stress, injury, illness, age and gender.
- Moreover, both are in a similar range in healthy individuals.
- Besides, both are involuntary actions which take place rhythmically.
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Is Pulse Rate And Heart Rate The Same Know More
It is a very common query among individuals whether pulse rate and heart rate are the same or not. In short, the answer is yes both of them provide the same information and can be measured the same way.
Nevertheless, there is a technical difference between pulse and heart rate. Heart rate measures the contractions of a heart, i.e. heartbeat. On the other hand, the pulse rate calculates the frequency in which palpable blood pressure surges in ones body.
Furthermore, a heartbeat pushes the blood throughout a human body. It causes a change in blood pressure and pulse rate in the main arteries. Therefore, in a healthy human being heart rate is synchronized with their pulse. Thus, there is no significant difference between heartbeat and pulse rate, apart from their definition.
As discussed above, there is no such point of difference between pulse rate and heart rate. Interested students can join our online live classes and interact with our experts and other students from around the country for a better learning session.
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Your Heart Rate: Changes Throughout The Day
Your heart works like a pump: its contractions push blood throughout your body. Your heart rate is the number of times your heart contracts per minute. This is often expressed in BPM beats per minute.
A heart rate varies from person to person. It also changes throughout the day. Are you sitting, lying or sleeping? Then your heart beats about 60 to 100 times per minute. But during exercise or stress, the rate automatically increases. Your heart knows it has to pump extra oxygen and nutrients through the body.
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What Is Target Heart Rate
- You gain the most benefits and lessen the risks when you exercise in your target heart rate zone. Usually this is when your exercise heart rate is 60 to 80% of your maximum heart rate. In some cases, your health care provider may decrease your target heart rate zone to begin with 50% .
- In some cases, High Intensity Interval Training may be beneficial. This should be discussed with a healthcare professional before beginning. With HIIT exercise, heart rates zones may exceed 85%.
- Always check with your healthcare provider before starting an exercise program. Your provider can help you find a program and target heart rate zone that matches your needs, goals and physical condition.
- When beginning an exercise program, you may need to gradually build up to a level that’s within your target heart rate zone, especially if you haven’t exercised regularly before. If the exercise feels too hard, slow down. You will reduce your risk of injury and enjoy the exercise more if you don’t try to over-do it!
- To find out if you are exercising in your target zone , stop exercising and check your 10-second pulse. If your pulse is below your target zone , increase your rate of exercise. If your pulse is above your target zone, decrease your rate of exercise.
Pulse Rate Vs Heart Rate
The reason why this topic gets a bit confusing is because while pulse rates and heart rates are technically two different things, they are so closely correlated and connected that they can also be seen as the same things. To make things easier on you, lets provide you with a rudimentary definition of both of these terms.
First off, the heart rate is the number of times per minute that the heart contracts, and is thus measured in beats per minute.
On the other hand, the pulse rate is the mechanical pulse of blood flow through the capillaries cause by the contractions of the heart per minute. When it comes down to it, although these are technically two different things, your pulse is your heart rate. Your pulse rate is also how many times per minute your heart beats.
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How To Lower Your Resting Heart Rate
In general, people who are more fit and less stressed are more likely to have a lower resting heart rate. A few lifestyle changes can help you slow it down:
- Exercise regularly. It raises your pulse for a while, but over time, exercise makes your heart stronger so it works better.
- Eat right. Losing weight may slow your resting heart rate. And studies have found lower heart rates in men who eat more fish.
- Tackle stress. Set aside time to disconnect from electronic devices and relax each day. Meditation, tai chi, and breathing exercises can also help.
- Stop smoking. Itâs one of the best things you can do for your overall health.
Average Heart Rate And Pulse
Normal, healthy adults who are reasonably fit and not overweight, and do not smoke or drink heavily, will have resting heart rates between 60 and 100 beats per minute their pulse will reflect this. Average, healthy teenager heart rates are the same as those for adults, while children under 10 years of age experience higher heart rates and pulses:
- Newborns = 70-190
- Infants (1-11 months = 80-160
- Toddlers = 80-130
- Preschoolers = 80-120
- Elementary Age = 70-115
Athletes share the same range with others in their age group, but teen and adults who are excessively active and fit may have resting heart rates and pulses as low as 40 bpm.
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What Is Your Target Zone
Target Heart Rate Zones by Age *
- Age: 20
- Target Heart Rate Zone : ** 120 170
- Predicted Maximum HR: 200
Your Actual Values
- Target HR
* This chart is based on the formula: 220 – your age = predicted maximum heart rate.
What Is The Respiration Rate
The respiration rate is the number of breaths a person takes per minute. The rate is usually measured when a person is at rest and simply involves counting the number of breaths for one minute by counting how many times the chest rises. Respiration rates may increase with fever, illness, and other medical conditions. When checking respiration, it is important to also note whether a person has any difficulty breathing.
Normal respiration rates for an adult person at rest range from 12 to 16 breaths per minute.
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Factors That Influence Heart Rate
- Age
- Dorsalis pedis
It is easiest to take the pulse at the wrist. If you use the lower neck, be sure not to press too hard, and never press on the pulses on both sides of the lower neck at the same time to prevent blocking blood flow to the brain.
When taking your pulse:
- Using the first and second fingertips, press firmly but gently on the arteries until you feel a pulse.
- Begin counting the pulse when the clock’s second hand is on the 12.
- Count your pulse for 60 seconds
- When counting, do not watch the clock continuously, but concentrate on the beats of the pulse.
- If unsure about your results, ask another person to count for you.