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Heart Beat: High pulse pressure poses risk for atrial fibrillation
Heart Beat
High pulse pressure poses risk for atrial fibrillation
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.
One measure of arterial stiffness is pulse pressure — the difference between systolic pressure (the top number of a blood pressure reading) and diastolic pressure (the bottom number). Pulse pressures under 40 are normal; the larger they are above that, the more worrisome. Systolic pressure reflects the pressure in the arteries when the heart contracts; diastolic pressure, when the heart relaxes.
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