A Violent criminal within us?

This middle-aged man seems to be on a roll as of late reading about recent health-related research and today I have another one to share with you.

Recently-published research suggests that low resting heart rate in late adolescence was associated with increased risk for violent criminal activity as an adult.

According to JAMA Psychiatry, where the results of this study were published yesterday, the research was a “population epidemiology study of more than 700 000 Swedish men reports that low resting heart rate in late adolescence was associated with an increased risk for violent criminality, nonviolent criminality, exposure to assault, and unintentional injuries in adulthood.”

An abstract of this research study reports how a “low resting heart rate is a well-replicated physiological correlate of aggressive and antisocial behavior in children and adolescents, but whether low resting heart rate increases the risk of violence and other antisocial and risk-taking behaviors in adulthood has not been studied in representative samples.”

In typical research fashion, the research study concludes by saying how “Resting heart rate and other autonomic measures merit further study in the development and prevention of violence and antisocial behavior.”

If you’re fascinated by these findings, here’s where you can go and read more:

A Longitudinal Study of Resting Heart Rate and Violent Criminality in More Than 700 000 Men

So this middle-aged man, from years of dedicated running and other cardiovascular training, is an owner of a lower resting heart rate.  

Years ago, when I was an active runner, my awakening resting heart rate was the low to mid-40 beats per minute range.  Now that I’m older and not the cardiovascular training beast I used to be, I now awaken to a resting heart rate in the mid-50 beats per minute range.

Pierini Fitness on the run circa 2004

According to this research study, that’s within the range of low resting heart rate associated with increased violent criminal activity.  The research study considered a low resting heart rate to be one that was less than or equal to 60 beats per minute.

“Yikes!” yells this concerned middle-aged man.

As a result of my cardiovascular training and conditioning, have I created in myself a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide complex character capable of being calm and collected one minute and then becoming a violent criminal thug the next minute?

Am I afraid of my own shadow or should I be?

Do we cardiovascular-fit middle-aged man fitness dudes with our low resting heart rates have a violent criminal within us?

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum