According to a French study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, those whose hearts beat too fast during rest and too sluggishly during exercise have a higher chance of sudden cardiac death. The research, relied on simple stress tests like the ones often given to people with heart problems.
Findings of the study showed that among the 5,713 middle aged, male French civil servants who had stress tests between 1967-72, on an average of 23-year
follow-up, 83 died of sudden cardiac death within 11 years. The apparent cause of such abnormal heart patterns is a malfunction of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is supposed to slow the heart rate back down after danger or stress.
Dr. Daniel Shindler, a cardiologist and professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, said the results would likely apply to women. Healthy women whose hearts do not slow down properly after exercise are more likely to die of heart problems.
Moreover, scientists said the findings do not mean healthy people should have routine stress tests. But they say that when heart patients get the tests, doctors should study the heart rate pattern for signs of trouble and not just look for evidence of blocked arteries as most do now.
Published by Teresita C. Tayanes on August 23, 2006 11:25 PM
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