MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Radial pulse

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Radial pulse

Arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart to the tissues of the body; veins carry blood depleted of oxygen from the same tissues back to the heart. The arteries are the vessels with the "pulse", a rhythmic pushing of the blood in the heart followed by a refilling of the heart chamber. To determine heart rate, one feels the beats at a pulse point like the inside of the wrist for 10 seconds, and multiplies this numbers by six. This is the per-minute total.

Update Date: 11/6/2006

Updated by: Sandra W. Cohen, M.D. Private Practice specializing in geriatrics, Brooklyn, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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