Higher resting pulse rates indicate a higher
risk of heart attack.
A new study published in the British Medical Journal has found that women
with higher resting heart rates are much more likely to suffer a heart
attack than women with lower pulse rates. The U.S. researchers looked at the records of 129,000
postmenopausal women with no history of heart problems, and followed them
for about seven years. After examining the
data, the findings indicated that women with resting heart rates of more
than 76 beats per minute were 1.6 times as likely to suffer a heart attack
or stroke compared with women whose lowest resting heart rates fell below 62
beats per minute.