EKG standards need to be changed among the elder population

This is kind of interesting… I have often thought about this over the years. The EKG standards need to be changed among the elder population.

After analyzing readings from more than 700 patients 80 or older, the researchers discovered that the average cutoffs (beginning and end points) for measuring all three ECG intervals — PR, QRS and QT — were greater than the current established norms. The findings also showed that the intervals, while greater in general, were significantly higher in men. The intervals refer to the times between recorded peaks of the specific motions in a heartbeat as represented on an electrocardiogram.

Obviously as we age there are natural physiological changes that occur. Due to those changes there are differences in the electrical components that correlate with an EKG. We need to take these into consideration when we analyze ones heart function to ensure a correct diagnosis. It makes sense, doesn’t it?

via Science Daily