Sep

10

Heart Health: Exercise May create New Blood Vessels in the Heart

Posted by maureen

September 10, 2007 |

We all know the importance of exercise in staying healthy but new research shows it can also play an important part in helping your heart to repair itself. Research presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting showed that exercise sparks the creation of new heart vessels. The research study showed that people with serious heart failure who rode a bike for up to 30 minutes a day for four months produced new stem cells in their bones. They also had more small blood vessels in their muscles. Those who didn’t exercise had no change in their vessels or muscles. In reality it was a small study of only 37 people but it does offer hope to millions of people

One of the common problems with people who have suffered heart failure is that they think they cannot exercise. There are no drugs that can make new stem cells so it makes sense to exercise to try to help rebuild your damaged hearts. Of course any patient with heart problems would need to consult with doctors before embarking on any exercise regime and they can advise the level of exercise, if any, is appropriate.

So how does it work?
Well , to start you have to exercise to the point of breathlessness at least once a day This physical activity strains the heart’s arties and muscles by sending a much larger amount of blood to the heart muscles being used. Stem cells are then sent to relieve this stress and may repair any damaged parts. If you continue to exercise, these stem cells help the body adapt to the stress, by building new blood vessels and strengthening muscles. This doesn’t mean that you have to become a marathon runner but everything points to exercise offering a very real way of improving your health even after heart problems that may have left you cautious about physical activity.

Previous studies have shown that people who do physical therapy after a heart attack longer than those who don’t. The body is a great machine…gives it a chance and some lifestyle changes and you’ll be amazed at what it can do.


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  1.   Heart Health: Exercise May create New Blood Vessels in the Heart by medTRIALS.info on September 17, 2007 7:04 am

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