Today I was struck by a story that speaks of a Chinese doctor who challenges any practitioner of traditional medicine to prove that You can tell if a woman is pregnant taking the pulse. Is this possible? A "reward" exceeding six thousand euros seems to indicate that the doctor is convinced that no, but there are those who have taken the floor and are willing to prove yes.
Pregnancy is surrounded by popular beliefs, many of which are false. Both to check the pregnancy and to know if a boy or a girl is expected, there are methods without any scientific basis. But, What can be behind the claim that you can know if you are pregnant taking the pulse?
This topic has led me to seek information until I find an interesting article in the Spanish Journal of Cardiology, entitled "The heart during pregnancy", which indicates the cardiovascular changes that occur in a normal pregnancy. And the fact that the body accepts the fetus involves many adaptations.
Among them is the increase in cardiac output (volume of blood passing through a ventricle in one minute), increase in arterial compliance (the ability of blood vessels to distend and contract properly in response to changes in volume and pressure) or the decrease in blood pressure (the force exerted by the blood on the arteries).
The cardiac output is impossible to measure with the pulse (in addition at the beginning of the pregnancy the increase is minimal), the arterial distensibility is an indicator of cardiovascular alterations that is measured with precise devices and the same thing that happens with the blood pressure. Naturally, scientific studies that talk about these alterations during pregnancy never use pulse measurement to determine or control them. But, Does the woman's pulse change during pregnancy?
Pulse and pregnancy
Remember that the pulse measures heart rate, that is, it is the number of contractions of the heart or pulsations per unit of time. But the heart rate is not the same from one person to another. The average value of pulsations considered normal in adults is 60 to 100 beats per minute (at rest) and between that margin will be the pulsations of a woman, pregnant or not.
But there are many factors that determine differences between people. For example, younger women show a higher pulse than older women, obese or overweight women have a higher heart rate than thin women, and athletes or other professional athletes may have a "normal" rate below 60 beats
It may also be that there is some alteration that causes significant changes in that margin (beats below 60 or above one hundred). But not pregnancy. The heart in pregnancy increases your heart rate, that is, the number of beats per minute, but it does so gradually.
Pregnant women generally notice an increase in pulse rate by approximately 10-20 beats. Then, it is likely that at the end of pregnancy 60-70 beats per minute has been passed to 80-90. Remember that a pulse greater than 130-140 or less than 50 is dangerous for the fetus, so you have to see a doctor.
But to establish the change, the woman who thinks she is pregnant should be followed before pregnancy, to see how much your usual pulse is. That is, normal heart rate before pregnancy. However, an increase in pulsations is more likely due to other causes ...
So the original method of Oriental alternative medicine may have some basis, but there are many other factors involved in how a woman's pulse works, so that I would opt for a more reliable test... You also have to be a true expert to notice the changes in the pulse, or trust the devices for it, so, with all this, I believe that the challenge that the Chinese doctor has launched is not going to be achieved.
Luckily, in this case taking the pulse does no harm, but what could be harmful, given the little scientific support of the method, is that a woman thinks that she is not pregnant and will not take care, for example, without attending the necessary tests the first trimester. By the way, I have also found "natural medicine" sites that claim that it is also possible to know the sex of the baby through the pulse.
Knowing if the woman is pregnant or not taking the pulse is almost a matter of luck, so it is better to have a more reliable test and see a doctor if you have any doubts, because after this seemingly harmless myth, others may come ...
