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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Exercise Benefits Even Weak Heart! Sedentary lifestyle is one of the risk factors for heart disease. In the last few decades, numerous scientific reports have examined the relationships between physical activity, physical fitness, and cardiovascular health. The consensual view is that more active or fit individuals tend to have a lower chance of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) than those who are physically inactive. Even if CHD develops in active or fit individuals, it occurs at a later age and tends to be less severe. A paper published in 2003 in journal ‘Circulation’ by researcher from Stanford University reported that protective effects of physical activity for several non-cardiovascular chronic diseases including hypertension and colon cancer had been revealed by many studies that followed large group of individuals for many years. On the other hand, there has been evidence showing a higher rate of cardiovascular cases and a higher mortality rate in those people with low levels of physical fitness. Physical activity or exercise can certainly benefit the heart, even for those who had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, had history of heart attack, or even heart failure. Though exercise cannot increase heart function in the long term or reverse damage caused to the heart muscles by a heart attack or cardiovascular disease, it can prevent further damage to the heart and strengthen the organ. Exercise can also help prevent recurrent heart attack by improving the function of the endothelium, which is the innermost lining of the blood vessels. Accumulation of fat deposits can affect the endothelium, causing arteries to harden and making it harder for blood to flow through. Studies have indicated that exercise could actually lower the risk of such plaque forming on the endothelium.
Cardiovascular exercise will help speed up recovery and extend the survival rate of many heart patients by lowering the risk of adverse cardiovascular events including heart attack by as much as 20 percent. For people with ischemic heart disease (IHD), exercise is a form of lifestyle modification that has such benefits as cholesterol reduction, weight gain prevention, and better diabetes control. IHD is a condition where there is reduced blood flow to the heart muscles causing part of them to die. Sometimes, excessive exercise could trigger a heart attack for people who are at risk of getting one, especially those who were previously inactive. That is why people should pay attention to their body and be aware of all the warning symptoms, including chest pain, dizziness, palpitations, and unaccustomed breathlessness. Heart patients, including those who have a recent heart attack or have undergone recent procedures like coronary angioplasty and bypass surgery, are still encouraged to enroll in cardiac rehabilitation programs tailored for them in a safe and supervised environment. But not all heart disease patients are fit for exercise. People with heart disease should, therefore, seek their doctors’ consensus before embarking into any exercise program on their own. For instance, exercise is not suitable for severe heart conditions such as uncontrolled heart failure or hypertension, or heart rhythm abnormalities. With doctor’s permission, people with milder heart disease should start gently with low-intensity exercises like walking. The duration can then be increased gradually until it hit the recommended target of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. Moderate intensity means a person can still talk in short sentences, though cannot sing, while doing the exercise. Patients must continue taking their medication while exercising. For instance, patients with IHD should never skip their medication before exercising, and they should ensure they have their vasodilators with them. Vasodilators dilate the artery walls to prevent muscles from tightening and the walls from narrowing. Medications taken by patients might sometimes affect how their exercise should be carried out. For example, some medications like those treating hypertension might affect a patient’s heart rate response to exercise and aggravate post-exercise hypotension (low blood pressure), which could cause dizziness and weakness. To avoid this, an extended cooling down period after the exercise is highly recommended.
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