A study of postmenopausal women has released some interesting conclusions. It looks like a woman’s heart rate at rest may help predict her risk of a heart attack, as it was already known that higher heart rates are linked with a higher risk of heart attack in men. The study appeared in Wednesday’s online issue of the British Medical Journal.

The data suggests that women with resting heart rates of more than 76 beats per minute were considered to be 26 percent more likely to have a heart attack or die from heart disease than those with heart rates of 62 beats per minue or lower. In order to draw these conclusions, researchers used data on more than 129,000 postmenopausal women with no history of heart problems and made their findings after eight years of work.

In order to be studies, the participants had to sit quietly for five minutes before their pulse was measured. A resting heart rate measures beats per minute while sitting. The measurement is taken to get an idea of how well the heart works when it is not stressed. Scientists were able to conclude that this simple measurement predicts coronary events in post-menopausal women. Furthermore, the relationship between resting heart rate and heart attack risk was stronger in women less than 65 years old than in women over 65.

Of course, the authors of the study had to take into account factors that might affect resting heart rate, like nervousness, depression, smoching, alcohol use and body mass index (BMI). After the follow-up period, researchers saw that 2,2281 women suffered fatal or non-fatal heart attacks and 1,877 strokes. However, in order to prevent cardiovascular problems, women should eat a low-fat diet, avoid obesity and increase physical activity.