Heart Beat: High pulse pressure poses risk for atrial fibrillation
Heart Beat
Arteries, like knuckles and knees, can stiffen with age. When this happens, the heart must contract a bit more forcefully with each beat to circulate blood. This extra work can lead to changes in the size and shape of the muscular lower chambers of the heart, the ventricles, much as lifting weights can do to the arms. If the remodeling also affects the upper chambers, the atria, it can throw off the electrical pathways that generate the "contract now" signals that precede each heartbeat.
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