Heart Rate News and Research

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Heart rate is determined by the number of heartbeats per unit of time, typically expressed as beats per minute (BPM), it can vary with as the body's need for oxygen changes, such as during exercise or sleep.

Five minutes of coffee aroma was linked to shifts in mood and brain activity

Short-term coffee aroma exposure was followed by reductions in several negative mood measures and an increase in an EEG-derived relaxation index in 20 healthy young adults. Heart rate and HRV did not change significantly, and the uncontrolled study cannot establish that coffee aroma caused the observed responses.

10 Sep 2026

Standard pediatric blood pressure thresholds miss early trauma warning signs

Blood pressure thresholds commonly used to identify dangerously unstable vital signs in children may not signal trouble soon enough after a traumatic injury, according to a national study of more than 230,000 pediatric trauma patients.

9 Sep 2026

Smartwatches may overestimate calories burned during exercise

Smartwatches can significantly overestimate how many calories people burn during exercise, and their calorie estimates become less accurate as body fat increases, according to a new Florida International University study.

1 Sep 2026

Antiviral COVID-19 drug shows no benefit for Long COVID

Results from a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published today in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases show that the antiviral drug, PAXLOVID, commonly prescribed to treat acute COVID-19, does not have an impact on Long COVID symptoms when compared to placebo.

1 Sep 2026

Social media messages could empower parents to prevent teen vaping

Parents are an important line of defense against teen vaping, yet many lack the knowledge and tools needed to recognize vaping products, understand their risks and prevent their children from using them.

31 Aug 2026

Exercise intervention associated with reduced atrial fibrillation burden

An exercise program combining short-term supervision with long-term home-based exercise was associated with reduced atrial fibrillation burden and other meaningful benefits, according to results presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2026.

31 Aug 2026

Breast cancer survivors could avoid lifelong heart medication, research suggests

Many breast cancer survivors whose treatment caused them to develop problems with their heart function can safely stop their medication after their heart recovers and most won't need to continue treatment long-term, according to a study funded by the British Heart Foundation and presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich.

30 Aug 2026

Digital technologies reshape clinical research and public health

JMIR Publications this week released seven feature News and Perspectives articles covering how digital tools are transforming clinical research, public health readiness, health care institutions, and consumer choices.

28 Aug 2026

Younger heart patients benefit from implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in CMR GUIDE trial

An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator did not improve the primary endpoint overall in the CMR GUIDE trial but younger patients appeared to benefit, according to results presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2026 and published simultaneously in JAMA.

28 Aug 2026

Study shows traffic noise disrupts health benefits of birdsong

Traffic noise disrupts recognised benefits of bird song and other sounds from nature, a new study from the University of Surrey reports.

26 Aug 2026

Hospital intervention reduces stillbirths and newborn deaths in Africa

A combination of training, quality improvement and leadership support in hospitals across four countries in sub-Saharan Africa is linked to fewer stillbirths and deaths among newborns during the first 24 hours of life.

26 Aug 2026

Physical activity declines significantly with age despite good initial health

A recent study from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, shows that physical activity declines substantially with age, even among older adults who are in good physical condition.

25 Aug 2026

This 29-year heart study tracked what happens after smokers quit

Long-term data from the Copenhagen City Heart Study linked both current and former smoking with a higher risk of sudden cardiac death, with risk rising alongside cumulative smoking exposure. Among former smokers, risk generally declined with longer time since quitting and approached that of never smokers only after prolonged abstinence.

20 Aug 2026

Paying attention to your body may change how an acute skin inflammation unfolds

Voluntary attention to inflammation-related bodily sensations reduced the magnitude of histamine-induced skin inflammation and promoted faster resolution compared with distraction in healthy adults. The findings point to complementary sensory-dependent and top-down autonomic pathways, although the precise neural and immune mechanisms remain unresolved.

18 Aug 2026

Wearable ultrasound patch tracks critical central venous pressure

The patch probe, with a center frequency of 8.5 MHz, provides excellent spatial resolution and penetration depth.

18 Aug 2026

Your sleep and stress may be connected in a more complicated way than expected

A seven-day intensive longitudinal study of 106 university students found little evidence that higher-than-usual daytime stress predicted poorer sleep that night. In contrast, better-than-usual subjective sleep was followed by lower perceived stress the next day, while objective sleep associations were generally weak and uncertain.

13 Aug 2026

Swimming sends wrist-worn heart rate monitors off track

Researchers created an open-access dataset comparing two wrist-worn heart rate monitors with a chest-strap reference during dry-land exercise and swimming. Both smartwatches performed substantially worse underwater, highlighting the challenges water poses to optical heart rate monitoring and providing a resource for future research on aquatic wearables.

12 Aug 2026