Excessive exercising may speed cardiac failure
Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:33 am
From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20303573/
Rats’ hearts developed abnormalities, had difficulty pumping, study finds
NEW YORK - Though exercise can be a key part of managing high blood pressure and heart disease, new animal research suggests there can be too much of a good thing.
In experiments with rats, researchers found that excessive exercise worsened high blood pressure and progression to heart failure in rats with high blood pressure.
Dr. Rebecca L. Schultz and colleagues at the University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, report the results in the journal Hypertension.
Regular physical activity has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease in numerous studies. Moreover, exercise therapy has been shown to improve both blood pressure and symptoms of heart failure — a chronic condition in which the heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently, causing symptoms like breathlessness and fatigue.
The new findings in rats are, therefore, unexpected, according to an editorial published with the study.
Unclear implications
The implications for humans are not yet certain, according to the editorialists Dr. Paul Christian Schulze, of Boston University Medical Center, and Satyam Sarma, of Brown University Medical Center in Providence, Rhode Island. However, the findings “should raise our awarenessâ€
Rats’ hearts developed abnormalities, had difficulty pumping, study finds
NEW YORK - Though exercise can be a key part of managing high blood pressure and heart disease, new animal research suggests there can be too much of a good thing.
In experiments with rats, researchers found that excessive exercise worsened high blood pressure and progression to heart failure in rats with high blood pressure.
Dr. Rebecca L. Schultz and colleagues at the University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, report the results in the journal Hypertension.
Regular physical activity has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease in numerous studies. Moreover, exercise therapy has been shown to improve both blood pressure and symptoms of heart failure — a chronic condition in which the heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently, causing symptoms like breathlessness and fatigue.
The new findings in rats are, therefore, unexpected, according to an editorial published with the study.
Unclear implications
The implications for humans are not yet certain, according to the editorialists Dr. Paul Christian Schulze, of Boston University Medical Center, and Satyam Sarma, of Brown University Medical Center in Providence, Rhode Island. However, the findings “should raise our awarenessâ€