At what heart rate do you die? What your resting heart rate says about risk, and when to call the doctor

In this article you will read what your resting heart rate says about health risk, why no single number is the answer to the question ‘at what heart rate do you die’, and which signs are a reason to call a doctor straight away. That matters, because a heart rate on a watch or phone is easy to read and easy to worry about, and what the large studies found is calmer and more useful than one frightening number. According to Thuisarts, a heart normally beats between 60 and 90 times per minute when you are sitting quietly.⁠⁴ You can read more about what a normal resting heart rate is on the page about a normal heart rate. The BioProfile heart and vascular scan gives you an indication of where you stand today when it comes to heart health. It is not a diagnosis. The scan gives you insight into where you stand today, to help you make better choices in your diet and lifestyle. Only a doctor can say what is going on with your heart.

At what heart rate do you die: there is no fixed limit

The question in the title has no clear-cut answer. In the research, the risk does not jump at one particular number. It rises gradually with every extra beat. A meta-analysis of 46 cohort studies with more than 1.2 million people from the general population found that every 10 extra beats per minute at rest went together with a slightly higher risk of dying from any cause, and a slightly higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.⁠¹ People with a resting heart rate above 80 had a clearly higher risk of dying, close to one and a half times that of the group with the lowest heart rate. The link remained after the researchers took the usual risk factors for the heart into account.⁠¹

Put simply, your resting heart rate is a risk signal that these studies followed for years. That signal works like a sliding scale, and no single number on that scale is a line where the heart stops. These studies show a link, and do not prove that the heart rate itself causes the extra risk.⁠¹

What large studies found about a high resting heart rate

A second, larger review brought together 87 studies. For every 10 extra beats per minute at rest, the risk of dying from any cause and the risk of cardiovascular disease were both clearly higher.⁠⁵ Of the heart outcomes, heart failure showed the steepest rise. For coronary heart disease the rise was smaller, and the risk of sudden cardiac death and of cancer in general also went up.⁠⁵ Atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm, followed a different pattern: there the risk rose with both a low and a high heart rate.⁠⁵ So for most outcomes, a lower resting heart rate went together with a lower risk, but that did not hold for one rhythm problem.

In Copenhagen, 2,798 healthy, working, middle-aged men with no known heart disease or diabetes were followed for 16 years, and 1,082 of them died during that time.⁠² Men with a resting heart rate above 90 had about three times the risk of dying of men at 50 or lower. The risk rose with every 10 extra beats, even after the researchers took physical fitness and other heart risk factors into account.⁠² So fitness alone did not explain the link in that group. What too little movement does to your body more broadly is covered in what too little movement does to your body.

A Dutch study points the same way. The Rotterdam Studie followed 4,768 men and women aged 55 and over for a median of 14.6 years, and 656 of them developed heart failure.⁠⁶ In men, every 10 extra beats at rest went together with a higher risk of heart failure. In women, the study was not able to show the link.⁠⁶ That is not the same as showing that there is no link, and it means this result mainly tells us something about older men. You can read which heart symptoms women report in heart symptoms in women: which symptoms.

Is a resting heart rate of 50 normal?

A resting heart rate of 50 is below the 60 to 90 that Thuisarts calls normal for someone sitting quietly.⁠⁴ An American study followed 6,733 people aged 45 to 84, all free of cardiovascular disease at the start, for 10 years.⁠³ In people who did not take medicines that change the heart rate, a heart rate below 50 was not linked to a higher risk of dying or of cardiovascular disease.⁠³ In the 902 people who did take such medicines, a heart rate below 50 went together with more than twice the risk of dying.⁠³

What this means for you: in this study, a slow heart rate without symptoms and without such medication was not a warning sign. The same number can mean something different, depending on what you take.

When to call the doctor

Thuisarts says that palpitations are not dangerous in most cases.⁠⁴ Call your GP or the out-of-hours GP service straight away if you have any of these alongside palpitations:⁠⁴

• pain or pressure in the chest that does not go away after a few minutes
• confusion, difficulty speaking, reduced vision or a drooping mouth
• a restless feeling, nausea, sweating and a pale face
• difficulty breathing
• the feeling that you are going to faint
• a heart rhythm that suddenly changes and does not return to normal after rest

If you have fainted, call straight away if you had chest pain or palpitations just before.⁠⁷ On a weekday, contact your GP if you fainted without warning, faint often, are over 70, have relatives under 40 with heart problems or sudden cardiac death, or take medicines that lower your blood pressure.⁠⁷

What the heart and vascular scan shows

The scan gives you an indication of where you stand today on heart health, and a starting value to compare with later. It is self-insight. It is not a diagnosis. The scan cannot tell you why your heart rate is high or low; a doctor can find that out.

In summary

No heart rate marks the point at which you die. In large studies, the risk rose gradually with every 10 extra beats at rest.⁠¹ A higher resting heart rate went together with a higher risk of death and of heart failure. In one study of healthy, working, middle-aged men, those above 90 had about three times the risk of dying.⁠^5,2 A heart rate below 50 without heart rate medicines did not go together with a higher risk.⁠³ Palpitations with chest pain, difficulty breathing or a feeling that you are about to faint are a reason to call the doctor straight away.⁠⁴