According to an online study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the resting pulse rate of women is clue enough to predict their chances of suffering from a heart attack.

Having observed nearly 130,000 post-menopausal women over the eight-year period of the study, experts in the US found that women with the highest heart rates - more than 76 beats a minute - were 1.6 percent more prone to a heart attack, as compared to those with the lowest heart rates - below 62 beats a minute.

The experts also observed that the 'pulse rate - heart attack' link was much stronger in the younger postmenopausal women, and also found that high-risk women suffered 2,281 fatal or non-fatal heart attacks and 1,877 strokes.

Lead researcher Professor Judith Hsia and other experts concluded: "Resting heart rate independently predicts myocardial infarction
- heart attacks - or coronary death, but not stroke, in women."

Not just the heart attack risk alone, women with the highest heart rates were also more vulnerable to depression, diabetes and smoking. Most of them had more weight, and higher cholesterol and blood pressure, as against their lowest rate counterparts.

In the opinion of Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, Professor Peter Weissberg, the heart rate study has added yet another factor to the already extensive list of "risk factors known to influence the chances of having a heart attack." (Harkiran contributed to this report)