Heart failure improves with resistance training

	Tweet

Combining resistance exercises such as weight lifting with endurance training safely improves the health of people with chronic heart failure, researchers in Belgium report.

Although resistive weight training is theoretically beneficial to heart failure patients, there is concern that it could cause unfavorable changes in the structure of the heart and perhaps trigger dangerous heartbeat irregularities, Dr. Viviane M. Conraads and colleagues at University Hospital Antwerp explain in the European Heart Journal.

Conraads’ group followed 27 heart failure patients who participated in a combined endurance and resistance exercise program, along with 22 similar patients ("controls") who could not participate. The exercise program included three hour-long sessions per week for 4 months.

The investigators measured levels of a protein called NT-proBNP, which is a good marker of heart-wall stress as well as an indicator of mortality risk.

Levels of NT-proBNP decreased by about 25 percent at the end of the 4-month training period in the exercise group, but remained unchanged in the control group. Heart function also was improved only in the trained group.

Those in the training class exhibited a significant decrease in heart dimensions, which argues against any harmful effect from resistive weight training in heart failure patients, the investigators report.

There were no adverse events, such as hospitalization, heart attack or severe heart rhythm abnormalities during the study.

“The results of the present study add to the evidence that a combined training protocol offers both a safe and effective approach” for people with severe heart failure, Conraads team concludes.

SOURCE: European Heart Journal, October 2004.

RELATED STORIES:
Tear in aorta more deadly for women than men   Plaques cut survival in young heart attack patients   Wine puts women’s hearts on song - study   Heart attack patients without support fare poorly   Sleep apnea raises cardiac risk in men   Complicated link between diet drinks, health: study   Syndrome predicts heart disease in healthy adults   Optimism May Lower Heart Disease Risk   FDA Allows Qualified Health Claim to Decrease Risk of Coronary Heart Disease   High blood pressure outside clinic increases risk   Hospital, not race, a factor in heart attack care   Breathing disorder linked with blood-related hormone

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]