Article: In new study, scientists link internal 'body clock' and heartbeat patterns

Scientists have long known that more heart attacks occur at midmorning than any other time of day, and while they are not sure why this happens, new research shows that the human "body clock" influences heartbeat patterns, which become more erratic between 9 and 11 a.m.

Reporting in last week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Boston University, Harvard Medical School and Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital found that "interbeat intervals" - the length of time between successive heartbeats - in five healthy individuals most closely resembled the variability of heart disease patients during the forenoon hours.

Physiologist Steven Shea, of Harvard Medical ...

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