The bottom line: Women who have heart rates of 76 beats per minute and higher were found to be 26 percent more likely to have a heart attack or die from heart disease than those with heart rates of 62 beats per minute or lower.

"It's pretty well-established for men that higher heart rates are associated with a higher risk for heart attack," lead study author Dr. Judith Hsia, who was with George Washington University when the research was conducted and is now with the drug company AstraZeneca, told HealthDay News. "Until now, that data has been missing for women."

Using data on 129,135 postmenopausal women who were enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative, Hsia's team found that 20 percent of the women in the study had heart rates of 76 beats a minute or greater, and they had a 26 percent higher risk of a heart attack over the next seven years. This added risk is not as significant as having high cholesterol, but it is still a good indicator.

Call it an early warning sign. Hsia says that heart rate should be part of a physician's overall assessment of coronary risk in women as well as men. Interestingly, heart rate doesn't seem to matter in younger women.

So what do you do if your heart rate is 76 or higher? If you're over 50, you should take it seriously, and that means making lifestyle changes. Eat a low-fat diet; lower your blood pressure through exercise, medication or both; avoid obesity; and become physically active. The key to good heart health is physical activity. Exercise increases the tone of the autonomic nervous system, which causes a decrease in heart rate and a decrease in blood pressure.

Heart disease, which is the world's leading cause of death, is primarily caused by fatty deposits that harden and block arteries and high blood pressure that damages blood vessels.

The study findings were published in the online edition of the British Medical Journal.