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Q: Slow heart rate - Bradycardia ?
asked by: ben2 on October 6th, 2009
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I've been measuring my blood presure using a digital reader to track my fitness progression. It also takes my heart rate. I've found my resting heart rate is about 49bpm, which I thought is a little low.

I'm 22, male, reasonably healthy, excercise 3 or 4 times a week and could loose a few KG's (BMI is 24). Blood preasure is normal according to my mum (ex-registered nurse).

I was listening to the heart monitor, which 'beeps' every time my heart pumps. It seems I semi-regulary skip a beat. Once every 20-30 seconds, my heart doesn't bother beating. Mum's checked my pulse and thought it might be 'bradycardia'.

Now she's nagging me to go to a doctor. I'm not keen on that because in Australia our doctors are really, really busy and I don't want to waste their time.

Is it worth visiting a doctor, or would that be wasting their time? Is this something that's probably normal and can be ignored?



ed: Oh dear I just noticed I put this in epilepsy... Sorry!
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Bris7
replied on October 22nd, 2009
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Hi Ben,
If your resting HR is 49 then you are definitely bradycardic as "normal" HR is 60-100. However, athletes and other fit people will often have HR below 60. It is once it drops below 40 that it becomes a real concern, or if you find you are getting regular episodes of dizziness with your current HR.
As for the skipped beats there could be a few explanations. There is a type of rhythm that is irregular called AF, however I don't expect you have that because it sounds like your rate is mostly regular with the odd skipped beat thrown in. Quite likely you are just having the occasional early or late beat. They are quite common, and over a 24hr period 80% of people will have these beats (myself included).
I don't think it's really a worry but if your mum's concerned, maybe next time you visit your GP, request to get an ECG test done just to check what your rhythm is.
If you were getting any symptoms such as noticeable palpitations or dizziness, then I would recommend making an appointment specially with your doc to check it out.
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