Higher Resting Heart Rate Tied to Higher Risk of Mortality

Generally, a lower heart rate at rest implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness.

In this study, which looked at 46 past studies comprising 1,246,203 patients, patients whose resting heart rates were higher than 80 beats per minute were about 45 percent more likely than those who fell between 60 and 80 beats per minute to die of any cause – not just from heart problems. “The association of resting heart rate with risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality is independent of traditional risk factors of cardiovascular disease, suggesting that resting heart rate is a predictor of mortality in the general population”, they wrote. After analyzing the data, the researchers found a person’s chance of death from any cause increased 9 percent for every additional 10 beats per minute, while risk of death from cardiovascular disease increased 8 percent for every additional 10 beats per minute.

A vast study concluded that a higher heart rate hints at risk of premature death and cautions people to be wary of their heart beats per minute even when resting. By having an increased resting heart rate, the chances of death due to both heart related or non-related issues grows exponentially. You will not die from just the increased resting heart rate, it is simply a way of finding out if the heart itself is subjected to strain caused by other afflictions or not.

They also admitted that their results did have a few limitations, such as the fact that not all patients had their heart rates measured at the same time during the day. They also found some patients started taking heart rate-lowering medications between their first visits and follow-ups. This is in direct comparison to people whose hearts beat between 60 to 80 times per minute and whose all-cause mortality risk is elevated by 21 percent.

Therefore, the study authors believe that more attention should be given to this health indicator, whose importance hasn’t been fully fathomed until now.

The team of researchers found that the resting heart rate might be a good clue to indicate future problems. The report was published online November 23 in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association. This condition, called tachycardia, could hint at serious cardiovascular issues. For instance, professional athletes tend to have a much lower pulse, at around 40 beats per minute.