The Heart rate it is a value that indicates the number of times the heart beats in a minute and it is one of the parameters considered vital signs, along with the respiratory rate, blood pressure and body temperature.
The heart is a pump whose function is to drive blood from the venous system to the arterial system, being the organ that commands the action of the circulatory system, for this the heart carries out a series of actions of several steps that are constantly repeated from birth Until death, which are known as the cardiac cycle, this begins with the filling of the heart chambers or the diastole phase, which is followed by the expulsion phase of the blood towards the arterial system that corresponds to systole. Every time the heart ejects blood into the arterial system, it distends and forms a wave that can be perceived if a superficial artery is palpated (such as the carotid in the neck or the radial in the wrist), this wave gives rise to the pulse that is the main way to determine heart rate.
Normal heart rate values are considered to be between 60 and 100 beats per minute in a resting condition, normally the heart rate is not a parameter that remains fixed, rather it undergoes variations during the day and may increase during physical activity. exercise or emotional alertness or stress situations. When the heart rate is below 60 beats per minute it is called bradycardia, while when it is above 100 beats per minute we are in the presence of a tachycardia.
One of the conditions in which it is important to monitor the heart rate is during exercise, it has been shown that there is a critical point known as maximum heart rate that if exceeded leads to a greater risk of cardiovascular problems and even sudden death. The maximum heart rate depends on age and in order to calculate it, age must be subtracted from the value 220, the value obtained is the highest heart rate that must be reached during sports or physical activity, when approaching this value it is advisable to stop .
The heart rate is regulated by a wide variety of very complex mechanisms, among them is the autonomic nervous system, which in turn is divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic, the former prepares the body for stress and is therefore capable of stimulating the circulatory system increasing the heart rate, the parasympathetic system has the opposite effect, it decreases the heart rate.
In the heart chambers (atria and ventricles) there are also receptors that are capable of determining the pressure in these chambers and the distention of the heart muscle, when these receptors are stimulated they send signals to the nervous system to increase the heart rate in order to to decrease the volume of blood, and therefore the pressure, within these cavities.
