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Actions of Living Changes Heart Rate Essay

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Humans can voluntarily suspend breathing (Apnea) on land for around _____ seconds, and in the water for an average of 30 seconds (University of Miami 2013) Other mammals, specifically whales and other diving marine mammals have the ability to induce a mechanism called Bradycardia, intentionally slowing their heart rate down during a dive. The decrease of heart rate is beneficial because the heart is pumping slower, working less, and consuming less oxygen during the dive. When the mammal approaches the surface it induces anticipatory tachycardia to raise the heart rate back to normal levels. (University of Miami 2013) A heart rate is the frequency of your heartbeat, measured by taking a pulse (in numbers of beats per minute). A typical…show more content…
An unusually high heart rate (Tachycardia) occurs when the heart races to above 100, sometimes up to 400 beats per minute for no apparent reason (not while exercising, a fever, or anxiety). Tachycardia (especially Ventricular tachycardia) is extremely dangerous and can lead to the heart not pumping blood to vital organs and without treatment possible cardiac death. (http://www.arrhythmia.org/tachycardias.html). Though both heart rate and blood pressure readings can reveal aspects of a human’s health, there is no linear relationship between the two measurements. When heart rate increases, blood pressure does not necessarily directly increase proportionally. (AHA 2014) Materials and Methods Each test subject started off seated in a chair at room temperature, in the same classroom, with a resting heart rate and normal breathing patterns. We took the subject’s resting blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic pressures) and heart rate with a sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff) made by MABIS Healthcare Inc, measuring the pressure of the brachial artery on the upper left forearm. The red indicating mark on the blood pressure cuff was aligned with the inside of the antecubital space. Once the first resting heart rate and blood pressure was recorded, the subject was asked to hold their breath for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds the
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