The heart of man is a miraculous, unrelenting muscle. Quite the creation miracle with it’s intricate innervation, and four separate chambers, all working simultaneously to keep the human body functioning. Beats per minute can be as different as night and day from person to person, but what factors raise the heart rate? Well, several, and most often influenced by each individual’s mental and physical reaction to them. There are also factors such as illness, health problems, habits, and temperature changes, that can warrant a raise of heart rate.
Healthy attraction is a way to raise the heart rate. When the human eye(s) gaze upon an attractive individual of the same/opposite sex, the body’s natural chemical reaction brings forth an increase in heart rate. The change, which is mentally responsible, produces chemical results that speed the heart rate. A typical heart rate for a healthy adult ranges between 60-100 beats per minute according to Dr. Edward R. Lakowski M.D; physical medicine and rehabilitation expert with the Mayo Clinic. The chemicals, adrenaline and endorphins, are the basic components in chemical inducing acceleration, and can raise heart rate by 10-15 beats per minute. Quite a taxing increase on an unhealthy or improperly functioning heart can cause sudden cardiac complications such as myocardial infarction ( heart attack ), and stroke.
The contribution of a preexisting medical condition such as chronic hypertension, congestive obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD ), and insufficient oxygenation saturation in the blood. With these particular ailments, the heart muscle must work more aggressively to recycle poorly oxygenated blood for reuse. High blood pressure ( hypertension) is one of the most prominent heart conditions. Information researched by the American Heart Association reported that a whopping 74.5 million adults, in America alone, are diagnosed with this life-threatening heart condition that raises heart rate. The presence of high cholesterol in the body is another contributing factor, and one of the most prominent and undetected conditions of the human body. When high contents of fat are recurring, by means of consumption of fatty foods, the body must make room for the excess waste and will forward the fat deposits into the arteries. Once the fat is presented into the hollow of an artery, it clings like a thick paste to the thin wall and restricts blood flow which is coming away from the heart to be fed into the body. The American Heart Association also relays the information on cholesterol as being less than 40 mg/dL for men and less than 50 mg/dL, too low to maintain a healthy ( HDL ) cholesterol.
“ Cancer sticks”, a.k.a cigarettes, in fact raise heart rate. Smoking is the process of inhaling harmful substances into the lungs such as tar and cyanide. The lungs absorb the substances into the blood stream for vast distribution spanning the body. The blood and substances being distributed are lacking sufficient oxygen and are circulating the toxins as well. The heart reacts by contracting ( squeezing ) harder in order to increase a higher, and much needed, concentrated level of oxygen-rich blood supply. The more forceful contractions cause a rise in heart rate. The second part of cigarette smoking that raises heart rate is the chemical components that are added to the tobacco. The body raises heart rate to hasten the substances through, and out, of the system. They are viewed as “ foreign” and the natural defenses of the body will try to combat them as it sees fit. According to information supplied by the American HeartAssociation, smokers may develop a condition called Arterial or Supraventricular tachycardia ( SVT ), as opposed to persons that do not. Supraventricular tachycardia is a fast heart rate that begins in the upper chambers of the heart. Some people may not have any symptoms of this condition at all, making it a silent, potential, killer. A few of the symptoms of SVT a smoker may notice are lightheadedness, rapid heart rate, and chest pain.
Overexposure to high heat and/or humidity will cause the blood vessels in the body to dilate which increases the pressure that the heart must exert to expedite blood travel through the arteries and veins. This rapid expedition of blood flow is due to the body’s attempt to naturally cool down by perspiring. The sweat upon the body cools as it dries, lowering the internal temperature to a more tolerable level. Extreme overexposure to high heat and humidity can induce such an elevated increase in heart rate that cardiac complications are possible. Dehydration that accompanies high heat and humidity overexposure, can also prove life-threatening. When dehydration occurs as a result of overheating, the body loses valuable water through sweating to lower the body’s temperature, and/or inadequate fluid intake to replace low fluid levels in the body is scant or absent.
Knowing what factors raise heart rate can address means and measures one can take to reduce increments that are too elevated to be healthy and safe. It is said that the heart is the strongest muscle in the body, and while that may be factual, it still should be protected from exhausting functioning. As mentioned above, medical conditions, attraction, smoking, and overexposure to high heat and humidity can all be considered factors that raise heart rate. It is estimated by the AHA, that roughly 250,000 people per year die from heart related problems. Those problems include factors that raise the heart rate. For more information about the heart, go to www.heart.org.
Sources:
www.mayoclinic.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.heart.org ( American Heart Association )
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