Mountain Biking Heart Rates
Heart stress test, bp was 155/0, why did the diastolic drop so low?
Towards the end of a stress test on my heart, my heart rate was 185 bpm and bp was 155/0, I asked the guy doing the test is that Ok he said it isn’t very comon but is OK, the problem is I have cold hands and feet, my legs turn a blue colour, my lower legs swell and I get tingling in my hands and feet, I am 40 years old, resting heart rate 55-60, bp usually 110/70 and reasonable fitness, I regularly mountain bike for 2-3 hrs, I think I may have a problem with my circulation, but I’m not sure, my doctor doesn’t really have any suggestions, if anyone has some ideas of things I can research, I would appreciate it.
Your readings are perfectly logical but the diastolic reading was an error. It would most likely have dropped considerably, -but NOT to “0″!
Let’s assume for argument’s sake, that it SHOULD have been say
155/50 ? That’s reasonable, and the explanation of how it works is this.:-
Increasing stress calls for increased blood-flow and the heart responds by pumping out blood at a higher rate, -to match ‘supply’ and ‘demand’. But its ability to do so is limited, according to your cardiac health, and if more blood is allowed (or more correctly, “runs off”,-) from your (pressurized) aorta down into your veins, via the organs of your body, then the pressure in your aorta will drop, as you approach the limit of your heart’s performance.
That is, the heart tries its best to replenish the aorta (which is like a big elastic balloon, with a leak into the lower arteries) but despite its efforts it can’t, and the diastolic drops.
It doesn’t in everyone’s case, because fit athletes have hearts which can cope with all demands, and their diastolics usually remain the same. Mine actually rise… not because I’m a fit healthy athlete, but because my heart ejects more than enough blood to maintain the aortic pressure, – enough slightly to raise it .
But a word of warning. – The pressure in your arm’s artery is NOT what the monitor reads, AND – even more curious, the indicated pressure is NOT what the true central aortic pressure is, because there is a drop between the aortic valve and the point at which your monitor is attached. .. But that’s another story…
Late EDIT: It would be interesting to know what kind of monitor the technician was using, because of course, they don’t really measure your pressure, -they only respond to ‘sounds’ their little microphone hears, and if the nature of the sounds is wrong, then the reading is wrong. But it should indicate “error” , -not ‘zero’….
EA Sports Active 2 PS3 – On Screen Heart Rate Comparison
