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Exercise May Help Heart Failure Patients



NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even though fatigue is a common symptom of heart failure, making physical activity difficult, the results of a new study suggest that people with chronic heart failure may benefit from regular exercise. Compared with a sedentary group of people with heart failure, a group that participated in a moderate exercise program improved their circulation, increased the amount of blood pumped by the heart and showed less heart enlargement, researchers report.

``Although several questions regarding optimal training protocol and training intensity remain unanswered, the present findings may have important implications for rehabilitation of patients with chronic heart failure,'' writes a team of researchers led by Dr. Rainer Hambrecht, of the Universitat Leipzig, in Leipzig, Germany. Their study is published in the June 21st issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

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  Heart failure occurs when the heart can no longer pump blood efficiently, which can lead to fatigue and fluid retention. There may be no obvious cause of the condition, or it may result from other health problems. In cases where medication cannot prevent damage to the heart, a heart transplant may be necessary.

Traditionally, people with chronic heart failure for whom physical activity is difficult have been discouraged from exercising, according to the study's authors. ``During the last decade, however, it has become appreciated that this approach accelerates physical deconditioning and may worsen heart failure symptoms,'' the researchers write. But there has still been concern about the effects of exercise in patients with heart failure, they note.

In the study, the researchers assigned 73 men aged 70 years of age or younger with chronic heart failure to an exercise program or to a physically inactive control group. For the first 2 weeks of the program, participants exercised on a stationary bicycle for 10 minutes four to six times a day under hospital supervision. For the rest of the 6-month program, the men exercised 20 minutes a day at home.

After 6 months, heart failure tended to improve in men who exercised but worsened in men who did not, according to the report. Physical activity was less stressful on the men in the exercise group, and they had improved circulation and a lower resting heart rate. Having a lower heart rate indicates that the heart is not having to work as hard to keep blood flowing through the body.

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)

(From Yahoo)

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