Tag Archives: heartbeat

Checking in with Your Pulse

Posted on by

Do you check your pulse? It’s not something I do very often… but it may actually be a useful way to keep an eye out for heart disease! Your pulse is your heart rate — how many times your heart beats in a minute. Everyone’s heart rate is different, but the average pulse at rest for children (between six and fifteen) is 70-100 beats per minute. The average pulse for adults (ages eighteen and up) is 60-100 beats per minute. (Information provided by the Cleveland Clinic.) When you exercise, your pulse increases — this is so your body can provide … Continue reading →

How Serious Is Your Racing Heart?

When I was in college, I had a frightening period of heart palpitations. After lots of tests (including wearing a Holter monitor) we figured out that it was most likely stress related. That didn’t make it any less frightening when my heart was thumping away for no apparent reason. What are heart palpitations? Any irregular or extra heartbeat can be called a palpitation. You may feel a thumping in your chest or a sinking sensation. A person may have them many times throughout the day without even noticing them! Heart palpitations are more easily felt when we lay down — … Continue reading →

What is Arrhythmia?

When I was in my sophomore year of college, I was under a lot of stress for a lot of reasons. I started having weird heart flutters, especially when I would lie down to go to sleep at night. It scared me enough that I drove three hours home to see my family doctor about it AND visit a heart specialist. Both of them told me that there wasn’t anything wrong with my heart, but it was still a strange and unsettling feeling to experience any sort of arrhythmia. Your heart is a muscle. It works like a pump! You’ve … Continue reading →