Proper Exercise Can Reverse Damage To An Aging Heart
Living healthy and disease or sickness-free takes a lot of determination and personal discipline. Apart from living clean and healthy, one has to indulge in regular fitness exercises to keep body and mind hale and hearty.
A sedentary lifestyle has so many negative effects on the human body as we age. Exercises keep us fit and help keep a lot of our body organs functioning at optimum level, and also help our metabolism stay on track.
However, for people who were apparently too busy for exercises and led a seemingly sedentary lifestyle, all hope is not lost for you.
Old age usually translates to weakness in the body, and weakness of our major body organs – chief of which is; the heart.
However, a new study conducted by scientists at UT Southwestern and Texas Health Resources, has revealed that the damage caused to a person’s ageing heart due to an earlier sedentary lifestyle can successfully be reversed via the right proportion of exercise.
Study
The study which was carried out for a duration of two years, and it was discovered that exercising and training which commences before the age of 65, and is done four to five times a week can improve a person’s heart elasticity significantly.
Previous studies have shown that a sedentary lifestyle can stiffen the heart’s ventricular muscles, but the new study follows on from that early research.
Benjamin Levine, a senior author on the latest study explained that;
"When the muscle stiffens, you get high pressure and the heart chamber doesn't fill as well with blood. In its most severe form, blood can back up into the lungs. That's when heart failure develops."
Procedure
50 subjects participated in the experiment for two years. The subjects were between the ages of 45 and 64 years. The participants were divided into two groups. On half were restricted to intense and directed regime of exercises, while the other half were conditioned to act as a control group undertaking balance training and yoga.
Result
After two years of training, the groups demonstrated distinctive success in regaining heart elasticity levels. The ventricular muscle elasticity in the subjects also saw over 25 percent improvements and there was an improvement of about 18 percent in the maximum level of oxygen intake when compared to control.
The UT Southwestern research team revealed that based on earlier works and survey, the heart-improving benefits of the exercises would be reaped if carried out or performed for about four or five times every week.
The verdict was reached on account of previous studies which suggested that exercising for only two or three times a week was not enough to achieve and benefit fully from the whole procedure.
Also notable from the study, was the fact that the cardiac improvements were not noticeable among subjects who started exercising after 65 years of age. This suggests that the exercise-related elasticity window was between the ages of 45 and 64.
Conclusion
Benjamin Levine who co-authored the study stated that;
"Based on a series of studies performed by our team over the past five years, this 'dose' of exercise has become my prescription for life. I think people should be able to do this as part of their personal hygiene – just like brushing your teeth and taking a shower."
Eventually conclusions drawn from the research was that exercise regime involving four to five sessions every week should consist of
- one high-intensity aerobic session
- one or two strength training sessions
- one or two moderately intense sessions, which should involve the subject becoming just “a little short of breath”
Reference:
Study: Paper
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I think the term use it or lose it applies here. I find the older I get, the longer it takes for me to get back into a routine of exercise that works for me and the quicker I loose momentum if I stop exercising.
Yea, i agree with you @cookit. The body easily gets used to laziness, as opposed to hardwork and fitness. And as we age, it even gets worse. So, regularity in fitness regimes remains the best. Thanks for visiting @cookit
At one lecture I was taught the reason why "runners" have less probability to get a heart attack. Allegedly, because of running the heart "reveals" its flaws much earlier than when it's too late. Does it make any sense? Like I run, my heart is forced to pump much more and if there is something wrong I could recognize it much earlier. If I would not run, the problem would just grow untill I get heart attack and then it is too late.
It was quite interesting because this explanation it is not that intuitive. So I'm just wondering if there is any connection to this study.
Anyway, thanks for article.
Yea, i think it totally makes sense @bewise. If you exercise, body abnormalities and defects easily get revealed. This leads to early detection and treatment. So, i think the connection is evident in both scenarios.
I agree that this should be a stable in ones life. It doesn't take much, you don't need to exercise for hours a day, just get the body moving. We are meant to pump blood and oxygen to live!
You are right @bitdollar. No matter how busy we are, we should always indulge in basic exercises to stay healthy. Thanks for reading
Very good post! Ah this must be added; the exercise must become part of our basic needs, part of our daily lives.
agreed with this one.
Thanks @splutterycarp
...now that you have read this: get up and just do it..!
Lolz....yes @elyiouvax. Simple and short! Thanks for reading
Moderate intensity aerobic-exercise 30 minutes a day for at least five times per weeks has been proven to reduce blood cholesterol level and blood pressure. It can helps in weight loss too
this is why i don't joke with my workouts. it goes a long way, can't be over emphasized
we should all do constant exercise to minimize the aging of our body, although of course it is a natural process but, our routine, the food we consume and the absence of exercise accelerates aging