Heart Failure Patients May Benefit From Exercise

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that for people with chronic heart failure, moderate exercise can help them feel better. For most heart failure patients, doctors often prescribe certain medications, depending on their symptoms, in addition to bed rest. For the study, Kathryn E. Flynn, Ph.D. and Christopher M. O’Connor, M.D., along with colleagues, randomly designated more than 2,300 male and female heart failure patients to either a standard care group or a standard care plus aerobic exercise training group. At the start of the study, participants in the exercise group were supervised during 36 exercise sessions. They were then given either a stationary exercise bike or a treadmill for use at home and told to get between 120 and 200 minutes of exercise each week. Just 3 months after the start of the study, the exercise group reported that they felt better, with 54 percent experiencing improvements in their health. Of the standard care group, only about 29 percent reported health improvements. More than two years later, those study participants in the exercise group were somewhat less likely to require hospitalization for heart failure or any other cause. People in that group also saw a reduced risk of death from heart failure or some other cause. In addition, Flynn and her team also found that those participants in the exercise group were in slightly better shape after two and a half years than those in the standard care group.

Although many of the participants in the exercise group did not follow the weekly recommendations over the entire length of the study, they still experienced small benefits from added physical activity. The results, which were analyzed by O’Connor and his team, revealed that the more a patient exercised with greater intensity, the more they benefitted. In the United States, an estimated 5.7 million people are living with chronic heart failure. According the American Heart Association, heart failure occurs when the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood through the heart to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen. The results of this study may prompt more heart failure patients to turn to moderate exercise to improve their quality of life. If heart failure is not detected or it is left untreated, the condition can be fatal. If you or a loved one has experienced a delay in diagnosis or treatment of a serious heart problem, please call or e-mail the personal injury attorneys at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. We serve clients with Brooklyn medical malpractice, Bronx medical malpractice, Manhattan medical malpractice, Queens medical malpractice and Long Island medical malpractice cases. We also serve clients located in Staten Island and Westchester County.

Call us toll-free 1-877-ASK4SAM and visit www.ask4sam.net