In patients who’ve experienced a heart attack, the degree to which the heart rate slows down in response to standard medications is a good indicator of survival, new research indicates.

Dr. Michel Cucherat of the University of Lyon examined data from 14 studies of patients who were treated with standard medications following a heart attack. The patients’ heart rate at rest was reported in all of these studies.

In the European Heart Journal, Cucherat notes that there was a significant relationship between resting heart rate reduction and clinical benefit.

In particular, as heart rate fell with treatment, the risk of death and additional heart attacks dropped. For example, with 10-beat drop in the heart rate, reports Cucherat, the risk of death due to heart disease fell by 30 percent.

SOURCE: European Heart Journal, December 2007.