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Working
Out to Stop Heart Failure
A $37 million study to determine if a tailored exercise
program can help heart failure patients live longer is being
led by Duke University Medical Center cardiologists.
The 5-year, 3,000-patient randomized trial will be conducted
at more than 50 American and Canadian hospitals. It's the
first large-scale prospective trial meant to find out whether
exercise can stave off death for people with heart failure
and other diseases.
The study will also examine whether exercise has any effect
on reducing hospital stays for that group of people.
"Smaller studies over the past 10 years have shown
that exercise can do good things for heart failure patients,
such as reduce levels of harmful hormones and improve physical
activity. However, these studies weren't designed to uncover
an effect on mortality and morbidity," Dr. Christopher
O'Connor, principal investigator for the new trial, says
in a news release.
Heart failure is a condition where the heart muscles aren't
able to pump enough oxygen and nutrients in the blood to
the body's tissues. It can be caused by infections of the
heart, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, valve
problems and previous heart attack.
Millions suffer from heart failure and about millions of
new cases are reported each year. About 50 percent of people
diagnosed with heart failure die within five years. There
is no cure but drugs can improve heartbeat strength, relax
blood vessels or remove excess fluid buildup in the lungs.
After providing a medical history and being given a medical
examination, people taking part in this study will be assigned
to receive either intensive exercise training or usual care.
The people in the exercise program will be given a personalized
workout regimen. For the first three months, they'll exercise
three times a week on a treadmill or stationary bicycle
at the institution taking part in the study.
After that, they'll continue their exercise program at home
for up to three years. The exercise equipment will be provided
to them. Researchers will have frequent phone contact with
the study subjects to monitor their health and to make sure
they're continuing to exercise.
Anyone interested in taking part in the study can get more
details at the trial's Web site.
Here's where you can learn more about heart
failure.
Article Source: HealthDay
Article Author: N/A
Net Reference 101
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