1.1 How healthy are you?

How healthy do you feel at the moment? What aspects of your life or your body do you consider when making that decision? Would you recite your blood pressure and heart rate? Do you monitor your health regularly, for example by weighing yourself or using an activity tracker? Why do you monitor your health? Or, if not, why don’t you?

Activity 2

Measure your pulse or someone else’s pulse now. If you need a guide, follow the advice in this video from the British Heart Foundation.

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Transcript: Video 2 Taking your pulse

EMILY REEVE

Hi. I'm Emily Reeve, senior cardiac nurse of the British Heart Foundation. Today, I'm going to show you how to check your pulse. Checking your pulse is important because it can detect any irregularities in the way your heart beats. It's quick and easy to do. You can even do it at home. I'm going to sit down now and check mine.

Turn one of your hands over so your palm faces upwards. Can you see some creases at your wrist where your hand meets your arm? On the side of your wrist where your thumb is, put the first two fingers of your other hand in the groove next to the bone, about an inch down from that crease. You should be able to feel your pulse. Feel your pulse for 30 seconds. Does it feel regular like this rhythm?

[HEARTBEAT]

Or does it feel irregular, like this rhythm?

[IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT]

If you feel an irregular pulse, please make an appointment to see your GP. An irregular heartbeat could be a sign of an abnormal heart rhythm, like atrial fibrillation, which could put you at risk of stroke. Your doctor will be able to advise you.

End transcript: Video 2 Taking your pulse

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Video 2 Taking your pulse

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Did you already know how to measure a pulse? How did you know? Was it because of your own job, or because it’s been done to you before, or because you’ve seen it on TV or in a film? When you did it, did you count the beats while looking at your watch or clock, or did you just feel them?

Today, the pulse mainly refers to the beats per minute, although the strength or weakness of the beat is also seen as significant. You will see later how these featured in ancient medicine.

Measuring the pulse against a watch or clock only started in the 15th century, and it was not until the 17th century that a pulse watch was developed by John Floyer. However, in the third century BCE, Doctor Herophilus is reported to have used a portable clepsydra, a water-clock, to measure the frequency of the pulse, adjusting this according to the age group of the patient. As well as speed, he was also interested in what he called the pulse’s size, rhythm and strength. In this course, you’ll be weighing up the similarities, as well as the differences, in how health was imagined in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds.