Re: If i can hear or feel a person's heartbeat easily, what does it mean?

Jeremy:  The heart, like any muscle, becomes stronger and thicker with 
exercise.  Unlike with skeletal muscle, this is not always good for the 
heart.  I don't know what you already know about cardiac physiology, so I 
hope that I am not wasting your time with the following.  Cardiac output is 
a concept that incorporates the heart rate as well as the amount of blood 
that leaves the heart to the body each beat.  The "formula" is C.O. = H.R. 
X S.V. where C.O. is cardiac output in ml/min, H.R. is heart rate/minute & 
S.V. is stroke volume in ml/beat (the am't expressed from the heart each 
beat)  This am't/min is homeostatically regulated, up to limits, by many 
mechanisms involving many body systems so that the am't of blood, & 
therefore the am'ts of O2 and CO2 being delivered to & from the body's 
cells is the correct am't.  The heart contributes to this by 2 methods; 
either by regulating the heart rate or regulating the stroke volume.  If a 
person is large and therefore has many cells that are larger than they once 
were (in obese people they don't gain in the number of cells but rather, 
each adipose cell gets larger) then the heart has to work harder to "try" 
and do its job.  It beats faster and harder, thus it is easier to hear.  As 
this happens over time, the heart muscle gets bigger, particularly on its 
left side, and this can work against the person in the long run.  This is 
because the left ventricle's volume for containing blood actually gets 
smaller as the wall thickens and therefore the S.V. gets smaller.  The 
heart gets the homeostaic "message" and trys to compensate by beating 
faster &/or harder.  This can become a cycle that can lead to severe heart 
problems.  Use "google" or another search engine & look up cardiac output. 
 I'll bet that you will get a lot of information.  I hope I answered your 
question.  J. Bridger