High resting heart rate spells trouble for women

A higher resting heart rate can raise the chances of a heart attack in middle-aged women, a new study finds. "It's pretty well-established for men that higher heart rates are associated with a higher risk for heart attack," said Dr. Judith Hsia, lead author of a report in the February 4 online issue of BMJ. "Until now, that data has been missing for women." The study used data on 129,135 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative. It found that the 20 percent of women who had heart rates of 76 beats a minute or greater had a 26 percent greater risk of a heart attack in a follow-up period of 7.8 years - womenshealth.gov