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, feel the beats at a pulse point like the inside of your wrist for 10 seconds, and multiplies this number by six. This is the per-minute total.

---

Review Date: 03/10/2011
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).