Re: Low pulse rate

Posted By Andrew on July 28, 1999 at 12:51:42
I am a 46 yr old male, 195lbs who plays badminton once a week but likes food and drink a little too much for my own good. My doctor recently picked up the fact that I am running a high blood pressure. He's lent me an electronic monitor for checking at home, which is dead easy to use and has allowed me to build up a picture of average readings. I check it last thing at night and first thing in the morning. The average I would say is around 143/85. He's put me on Coversyl 2.
One thing the monitoring has highlighted is that I have a pretty low pulse rate during the tests - between say 45 to 55.
My question is this - (Looking at this from my engineering trained eye)Does the lower pulse rate have an efect on pressure? It seems to me that if the heart is pulsing less frequently, it'll need to pump harder and stronger to get the same quantity of blood around the pipes, so to speak. If so does this effect the heart muscle long term? Is the low rate maybe a symptom of the high pressure.
I've been reading up on the net since my visit to the docs and can see where I've been going wrong lifestyle wise, but would like to know if there an effect from the low pulse rate.

[CCF CARDIO MD DLB]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - DLB on July 29, 1999 at 15:48:19
Dear Andrew
Basic engineering principles do not easily apply to the human body. The low pulse rate in no way is contributing to your high blood pressure. In fact, if the pulse is extremely low, the blood pressure will fall.
I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to write back.
Information provided here is for general purposes only. Specific questions should be addressed to your own doctor. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.











Follow Ups:


Low pulse rate Kari 8/02/1999
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Re: Low pulse rate CCF CARDIO MD - DLB 8/03/1999
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