Health tip for the day
by Dr. Harold How often should you check your pulse?
You should check your pulse rate in your wrist at the base of your thumb once in a while, to detect changes that would warn you if a suspicious disorder of the heart or other endocrine dysfunction is brewing to call your doctor. At rest, in a normal healthy person, the pulse rate would range between 70 and 80 per minute with an average of 72 per minute.
As a lay person, how can you suspect any disorder by feeling the pulse? The easiest way to feel the pulse is to place the index and mid-finger on the outer aspect of the inner (ventral) side of the wrist (shown in picture) and keep moving until you feel a thud. That would be your pulse detectable in your radial artery on
the wrist.
Next, you roll your two fingers over the artery to get more information. Palpating the radial pulse at the wrist gives an indication of the state of the coronary arteries: after all, these vessels are branches of the same tree. If you feel that the radial artery is hard and thick that would be a sure signs that your coronary arteries are also in the same situation. The soft arteries become thicker due to aging, eating the wrong diet- high sugar and high fat, alcohol, stress and high blood pressure. You will be surprised that fish oil containing omega-3 fatty acids seem to soften the arteries. Take regularly, a minimum of 1000mg. daily. Some may get side effects such as stomach upsets and heartburn when taken on an empty stomach.
You might once in a while feel a drop in your heart (pulse) rate. If the drop is one in about 10 beats, you don’t have to worry, it may disappear in time. But if those dropped beats are more frequent-say one in five, you need to see your doctor soon. Other causes of irregular pulse rates are –Atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia, and ventricular tachycardia. So with irregular pulse rates or drop beats you need to call your doctor, soon
If you have a rapid heart rate over 80 at rest with exercise it may drop to the normal range. If the rate is over 100, obviously you are straining your heart and you need to see your doctor, sooner. The over-active thyroid is a common cause of rapid pulse.
Are you stressed and suffer from anxiety? In such a situation you secrete more, a hormone called nor-adrenaline from your adrenal glands sitting on your kidneys that will make your heart go rapidly. Symptoms in a panic state could be a racing heart, sweating, chest pain and also breathlessness. You need to see your doctor to get medicine to calm you down.
If you don’t exercise regularly, your pulse will be in the range between 80 to a 100per minute. You need to do a workout daily, to strengthen your heart muscles. During exercise, your heart will pump rapidly and with training, the rate slows down rapidly. If you don’t work out regularly and start again you might have a heart flutter- a pounding effect in your chest. Your pulse rate may be irregular, but with regular training, the pulse becomes slower, steadier and regular.
Your pulse rate can go rapidly after your morning coffee for some people. As you know, caffeine in coffee is a stimulant that raises your heart rate. You could experience the same with sodas, chocolate, and tea.
Smokers will always have a rapid heart rate, and quitting is the best solution. Women can have a rapid pulse rate during their period, with pregnancy and closer to menopause.
With high fever due to bacterial infections you invariably get a rapid pulse beat. On the contrary with viral fevers, the pulse get slower, common-sense way of differentiating the two.
Some medications, including the over the counter ones, may give a rapid pulse rate as a side effect. Examples include: antibiotics, antifungal medicine, asthma inhalers (salbutamide) over the counter cough and cold medicine, diet pills and so on. There is one medicine that doctors prescribe to slow the heart rate, called beta-blockers. They are beneficial to bring down your rapid pulse in a short while) If you are a diabetic, in low sugar situations (hypoglycaemia), you may feel unsteady, uncomfortable, lifeless and have a rapid pulse rate. In this situation, your body releases stress hormones like adrenaline to prepare for an emergency food shortage.
As mentioned earlier an over-active thyroid can make too much of hormone thyroxine in the gland to produce a rapid pulse rate, shiny, sweaty skin, bulging eye and so on. Taking too much of thyroxine to treat an under-active thyroid gland can cause it.
Chronic alcoholics have a rapid pulse rate. For some, an occasional drink can cause a rapid pulse rate which settles down in a few hours. This condition is nicknamed, “holiday heart syndrome”.
Illegal street drugs like amphetamines, cocaine, and ecstasy can cause a rapid heart and cause damage to the heart muscles.
Conclusions: Check your radial pulse once in a while. Stay healthy, exercise daily, enjoy an occasional glass of wine, and take your medications at regular times, for a good lifestyle and longevity.
Hope this article will benefit you.
