Pulse and blood pressure are vital indicators that directly indicate a person’s health status. From ancient times, healers diagnosed many diseases, taking these characteristics as a basis.
At present, mankind has enough methods and instruments for determining heart rate (heart rate), however, for the first time faced with an acute health disorder, everyone can independently determine their heart rate and compare it with a rate normal for a given age. In men and women, the pulse rate by age (the table in the article confirms this) is almost the same. And since the age of 16, the normal pulse rate in a healthy person, regardless of gender, is from 60 to 90 beats per minute, depending on the state of excitement.
Now let's look at this topic in more detail.
What is a pulse: definition
Pulse is a rhythmic oscillation of the vascular walls that occurs due to contractions of the heart muscle. There are places, having felt which you can just feel the beat of the pulse and measure it yourself, but more on that later.
The pulse in an adult, or rather the frequency of his contractions, can be evaluated not only by an indicator of the strength and rhythm of the heartbeat, but also by telling about the state of the vessels in the body.
In addition, a healthy person should have even intervals between pulsations. In the case of their "chronic" unevenness, one can assume any disturbance in the body, and this may not necessarily concern the work of the heart. For example, such a "picture" may indicate a malfunction of the endocrine glands.
How to measure the pulse?
It is at such moments that it does not hurt to know how to measure the pulse of yourself or another person. Along with this, it will not be superfluous to measure blood pressure, as this will help to build up a more understandable picture of the state of human health at the moment. You can use a manometer for this.
Methods for measuring heart rate at home
The most common way to determine your heart rate: attach 2 fingers to the radial artery located on the back of the wrist. After that, you need to track the time, preferably on the stopwatch and start the countdown. For greater certainty, after you have measured the heart rate on one hand, it is advisable to count on the other.
If you can not feel the pulse in this place, you can try to find it in places of other arteries. For example, you can attach your fingers to the brachial, femoral or carotid artery located on the side of the neck.
This method is more suitable for measuring the heart rate in a healthy person, because due to inexperience, you can still count the number of strokes with errors.
To simplify this method, you can calculate the number of strokes in 30 seconds and accordingly multiply this figure by two. And then the heart rate by age (the table will decrypt the result you get) will show the result.
If a person knows about the presence of any cardiovascular disease, then you need to calculate more accurately. Usually, an ECG (electrocardiogram) is performed for this in a clinic.
Heart rate by age: table for women and men
This table provides values for healthy people who are at rest at the time of heart rate measurement.
What affects heart rate
At rest, a pulse is considered normal, being in the range of 60-90 beats per minute.
If, before measuring the pulse, a person was subjected to physical exertion, stress, or simply ate food, then heart rate is unlikely to be normal. To correctly measure the pulse, the body needs some time to "calm down." It is usually enough to sit down for 5-7 minutes and, if possible, limit yourself to movement.
In addition, the pulse of a woman is always higher by 5-8 units / min than the pulse of a man. But this is a very slight deviation, which again should not be paid attention if an adult has no health problems.
Heart rate by age (table): children
With children, things are somewhat different. For a newborn baby, a pulse of 140 beats per minute is the norm, while for an adult, this is a clear sign of tachycardia, which can also carry both a temporary functional state and signal a disease of the heart or organs adjacent to it.
When the acceleration of the pulse from the norm does not cause concern?
There are a number of cases where the pulse rises for natural reasons:
- During menopause, every woman has a change in hormonal levels, which entails a slight increase in blood pressure in conjunction with an increase in heart rate. If during menopause a woman does not suffer from shortness of breath, dizziness, no headaches and chest pains, then such changes are not considered a pathology. Most often, menopause brings with it surges of pressure that exhaust women enough - tachycardia and arrhythmia can become companions of this condition. And if it comes to the usual functional increase in the heart rhythm by several units, its women practically do not feel it.
- Also, acceleration of heart rate is observed in pregnant women.
In what cases is a decreased heart rate a normal occurrence?
A decreased heart rate is considered normal during sleep, as well as in the first minutes after waking up.
Also, a decrease in heart rate to 40 units per minute is considered normal in adults who are constantly engaged in an active sport.
In other cases, if the pulse does not return to normal in 5-7 minutes at rest, and this condition is observed repeatedly, you still need to consult a doctor who will most likely prescribe a series of tests to identify the problem.
For reference:
- Tachycardia is an increase in heart rate
- Bradycardia is a decrease in heart rate.
Norm of heart rate during pregnancy
At the moment when a woman has born a new life, the body is given the responsibility of providing her with everything necessary. Now the main task is to transport the necessary amount of oxygen and nutrients through the mother’s blood to the unborn baby. And this means that the heart needs to work "for two."
The pulse during pregnancy in the first trimester may be slightly increased. But for a period of 4-5 months, namely in the second trimester, a pulse of 100 beats per minute in pregnant women is the norm. It was during this period in the small body that all the organs and their systems necessary for life were formed and now it needs to be fully provided with oxygen and nutrients.
And even in this period, the future mother's blood volume increases, and, accordingly, her circulation increases. The heart works in an enhanced mode, so many women can observe signs of tachycardia in themselves: the heart pounds harder, the pulse is 100 beats per minute on average.
The pulse during pregnancy in the third trimester can be in the range of 110-115 beats. In medical practice, this condition in pregnant women is called physiological tachycardia, which after delivery passes by itself. The rapid pulse in this situation is not a problem, but a temporary phenomenon inherent in every woman in the situation.
Remember - your health is in your hands! If you have found a deviation in your pulse from the norm, and a similar situation has occurred more than once, do not postpone going to a specialist, it’s in your interests!