Your heart health is precious. All your life you have to take care of it so that unpleasant diseases of the heart do not make your life miserable. How do you take care of the heart? You eat healthily, exercise and watch out for unusual symptoms. And one such sign is the unnatural pulse rate. What is the pulse rate? And is your pulse rate normal? In this article, we will explain it all.

What Is Your Pulse Rate?

Pulse rate is also called heart rate. Essentially, it is the number of times your heart beats every minute. It is slightly different for everyone. Your parent’s or your friend’s pulse rate may not be the same as yours.

What Is The Normal Pulse Rate?

The normal pulse rate for people aged 18 and above varies from 60-100 beats per minute. For individuals between 6-17 years, the normal pulse rate is 70-100 beats per minute.

Does Heartbeat Rate Stay Constant?

These days higher resting heart rate is commonly seen in the younger population due to performance anxiety, apart from certain medications(as prescribed by their physician) deep breathing yoga exercises help a lot in decreasing the heart rate.

Dr. Nikhil Yadav, MBBS MD, CCEBDM

No, your pulse rate is dependent on a few factors. It will shoot up during strenuous physical activities or when you are under stress or feel strong emotions like fright or anger.

Your pulse rate could also change with a change in BMI like when you gain or lose weight.

The state of your health also determines your pulse rate.

Do you exercise a lot? If you do and are extremely fit, your pulse rate will be lower than 60 beats per minute. That is because your heart is so healthy that it does not have to beat many times to send blood to all corners of the body.

The Maximum Heart Rate

It is essential to know your maximum heart rate. This way, you will not exceed the mark beyond which it becomes dangerous for your heart.

You can easily calculate your maximum heart rate with this formula –

220 – Your age.

For example, if you are 40 years old, your maximum heart rate will be 180 beats per minute.

Heartbeat Rate and Diseases

If you notice a frequent fluctuation in your pulse rate? It could be an indication of a heart disorder called arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat.

If your resting heart rate is more than 100 beats per minute, you may have tachycardia. If you are not physically active and yet have a pulse rate lower than 60 beats per minute, it could be a sign of bradycardia.

These conditions require immediate treatment.

How Can You Measure Your Pulse Rate?

You can feel the fluttering of your pulse in your:

• Wrist
• Crook of the elbow
• The top portion of the foot
• The side of the neck

Gently feel the pulse and count the number of times it throbs in a minute.

Now you know what heart or pulse rate is and what is the usual benchmark for a normal heart rate, all you have to do is monitor yours frequently to stay healthy.

Also Read: 20 Essential Healthy Heart Tips

Disclaimer: The above information has been prepared by a qualified medical professional and may not represent the practices followed universally. The suggestions listed in this article constitute relatively common advice given to patients and since every patient is different, you are advised to consult your physician, if in doubt, before acting upon this information. Lupin Limited has only facilitated the distribution of this information to you in the interest of patient education and welfare.