Higher resting heart rate linked to early death

A higher resting heart rate is associated with an increased risk of death from all causes, even in people without the usual risk factors for heart disease, a new study has claimed.
Researchers at the Medical College of Qingdao University, Shandong, in China found that people with a resting heart rate of more than 80 beats/min had a 45 per cent higher risk of death from any cause than those with a resting heart rate of 60-80 beats/min, who had a 21 per cent increased risk.
Findings were similar for people with cardiovascular risk factors.
"The association of resting heart rate with risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality is independent of traditional risk factors of cardiovascular disease, suggesting that resting heart rate is a predictor of mortality in the general population," Dongfeng Zhang of the Medical College of Qingdao University said.

Researchers assessed 46 studies involving 1,246,203 patients and 78,349 deaths from all causes, and 848,320 patients and 25,800 deaths from heart disease, to understand if resting heart rate is correlated with an increased risk of death.
"Results from this meta-analysis suggest the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality increased by 9 per cent and 8 per cent for every 10 beats/min increment of resting heart rate," researchers said.
"The risk of all-cause mortality increased significantly with increasing resting heart rate in a linear relation, but a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular mortality was observed at 90 beats/min ... Consistent with the traditionally defined tachycardia threshold of 90 or 100 beats/min for prevention of cardiovascular disease," they said.

The study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.