Heart Failure and Physical Exercise
Heart failure (HF) is considered an epidemic in developed countries, both because of the high incidence and costs of treatment and consequent expenditure on the health system. HF is characterized by impacting the functioning of various organs and systems of our body due to the fact of causing an insufficient vascularization. It is common to watch people with HF refuse to exercise because of decades of wrong counseling and the discomfort that physical activity and daily activities such as climbing stairs provoke. However, as the recent studies done in the area have concluded, the practice of physical exercise should not only be advised as mandatory for people with HF.
Why? Because it has been proven that the cure for intolerance to physical exercise is the practice of physical exercise. In a study published in 2009: JAMA. 2009 Apr 8; 301 (14): 1439-1450. it was concluded that the practice of oriented and planned physical activity:
3 sessions of 60min per week for 3 months, with cardiovascular endurance exercise and strength exercises increased the blood pumping capacity of patients in the study by 35%. However, only in 2014 was it decreed in the United States the need to prescribe a training plan for people with HF. In Portugal we have already seen a growing awareness of the need to include a physical exercise program for the cardiac rehabilitation of this type of patients and fortunately many cardiologists do not dismiss it.
We are ready to help. Come and exercise.
Text by Ricardo Amorim.