What your resting heart rate says about you
The advent of fitness trackers, pulse oximeters and home blood pressure machines means you can easily monitor your heart rate while doing everything from training for a marathon to sleeping at night. However, it is the resting rate during the day that I want to concentrate on because it can be a surprisingly simple indicator of underlying health issues and a predictor of problems too….
Some causes of a high resting pulse
? Stress, anxiety, excitement or anger? Caffeine, alcohol and smoking/vaping
? Some over-the-counter and prescription medicines, eg decongestants and asthma inhalers
? Dehydration
? High temperature and infection
? Anaemia (low blood count)
? An overactive thyroid gland
? Underlying heart problems
More here.
I found this article interesting because it brought back to me the thought that just maybe our bodies make us do things that help us even if they do not make sense.
For example I vape, I drink far too much strong coffee and I use asthma inhalers. Of course I cannot help the inhalers, but my resting heart rate is between 48 and 51 and I am not a small person. What would my rate be without the above listed stimulants that are supposed to increase normal heart rates?