The resting heart rate is influenced by the level of various hormones and the balance of autonomic tone in the body, so the sympathetic activity, metabolic rate level and autonomic balance of the body are all reflected by the speed of the resting heart rate. Heart rate and lifespan in mammals Studies have shown that there is a linear, inverse semi-logarithmic relationship between heart rate and lifespan in mammals. That is, mammalian heart rate is negatively correlated with lifespan. Hamsters have a heart rate of up to 500 beats per minute but live only 2 years; turtles have a heart rate of 6 beats per minute and can live up to 177 years; for humans, an average heart rate of 70 beats per minute results in a life expectancy of about 80 years, which can be extended to 93 years if the heart rate drops to 60 beats per minute. The study also concluded that despite the wide variation in lifespan, body weight and heart rate among individual mammals, the total number of heartbeats in these animals remains surprisingly logarithmically constant at about 1010 (1 billion) over their lifetime. This indirectly suggests that a lower heart rate can extend life span. A study by the Cardiovascular Research Centre at the University of Glasgow, UK, found a 78% increase in all-cause mortality in patients whose heart rate was consistently increased but not controlled in a timely manner (p<0.001). Moreover, all-cause mortality was significantly lower in patients whose heart rate changed from fast to slow than in those whose heart rate changed from slow to fast. Hypertension and heart rate The well-known epidemiological study by Framingham showed that the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular event mortality in patients with hypertension or prehypertension combined with a fast resting heart rate (>69 beats/min in men and >74 beats/min in women) increased by 25% to 50% compared with patients with a normal resting heart rate. cardiovascular events and cardiovascular death. Several studies in recent years have shown that resting heart rates above 80 to 85 beats/min are associated with a substantial increase in the risk of cardiovascular events and strokes. Long-term follow-up has found that fast resting heart rate is even more predictive of the risk of adverse cardiovascular events than traditional risk factors. Fast resting heart rate is associated with a further increased risk of adverse events based on the combination of other traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors. Therefore, the 2016 European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Annual Scientific Meeting released a consensus on heart rate management in hypertensive patients, suggesting that a resting heart rate of 80 to 85 beats/min or more is considered a fast resting heart rate, and suggesting that hypertensive patients should pay attention to the control of resting heart rate. Heart rate and pulse The heart beats once for every contraction and diastole. The number of times the heart beats per minute is called the heart rate. The arteries beat with the contraction and diastole of the heart, which can be felt by pressing the hand outside the skin, known as the arterial pulse. In a normal person, the number of pulses per minute is the same as the heart rate. If a patient has severe arrhythmia (such as frequent premature beats or atrial fibrillation, etc.), due to the unequal strength of the heart muscle contraction, sometimes the heart’s ejection of blood because of inadequate preparation, then the ejection force is small and the amount of blood ejected is small and insufficient to cause the peripheral blood vessels to beat. This results in a pulse rate lower than the heart rate, so that the pulse count cannot be used as a substitute for the heart rate, and it is best to measure the heart rate with a stethoscope or have a physician perform the procedure. In recent years, the relationship between resting heart rate and hypertension has gradually received attention. Our 2001 heart rate survey of 5360 healthy individuals showed that the median resting heart rate fluctuated with age (18-80 years) from 67 to 73 beats/min, and the current status of hypertensive heart rate investigated by Sun Ningling et al. showed an average resting heart rate of 77.1 beats/min in people with simple hypertension.