Heart failure saps muscle strength
Are you suffering from heart failure, and tired of feeling tired all the time?
Then exercise.
I've said it before, and I'll continue to preach it.
First of all, I never said it would be easy or comfortable when you started out. That's one of the hallmarks of this heart condition: the least bit of exertion can feel like a marathon's worth of effort.
You're feeling like that because your muscle cells go through changes that can eventually lead to muscle shrinkage. It becomes a vicious cycle.
But recent studies are showing that you can stop the cycle—but movement is required.
In one particular study, researchers were curious to see if muscle loss could be turned around through exercise. This is especially crucial since heart failure patients experience a full 50 percent reduction in muscle repair cells. These are called progenitor cells, and are a reservoir of immature cells that can step up and join more mature cells as needed, assisting in the repair of damaged muscle.
Fifty men averaging 56 years in age participated in the study, submitting to tissue biopsies of their quadriceps muscles (in the leg) before and following the study. Half were instructed to participate in a doctor-supervised exercise program for 12 weeks, and the other half were instructed to do no exercise training.
Men in the exercise group rode a stationary bike for 30 minutes per day, which was usually split into two sessions.
The results were nothing short of amazing. While the non-exercise group maintained the same low level of progenitor cells, the exercise group saw a return to almost normal of theirs. Their total number of progenitor cells increased by 109 percent. And those cells got right to work by differentiating into those damaged muscle cells at an increase of 166 percent.
The men who exercised also reported by the end of the study that they felt better than they had prior to the study. And that's straight from the horse's mouth.
Next on the agenda for the researchers is whether or not exercise can specifically lead to changes within the heart muscle itself.
If you have trouble getting motivated to move, note that the 30 minutes spent on a stationary cycle was split into two sessions. Consider starting out with a single session—even 10 minutes will do. Make it your exercise of choice, whether it's walking, cycling, swimming or rowing, and do it every other day. Slowly build, adding 5 minutes per week—more if you feel like it. It won't take long before you'll be used to 30 to 45 minutes, three to four times per week—a great improvement over no exercise at all.
One little trick I learned is that if you're not up for a full session, cut back for one or two sessions. Even 10 to 12 minutes is better than nothing and definitely helps keep the momentum going, reducing the likelihood that you'll throw up your arms and quit. If you're embarking on a new exercise program, however gentle, and you're over 40, let your doctor know what you're up to. In some cases, he or she might want to conduct a cardiac stress test to make sure you're safe to go.
