Exercise and muscle strength training and their effect on quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure

Abstract

Background: There is now evidence that moderate training plays an important role in the treatment of chronic heart failure. No clear instructions exist to date as to how such training programs should be carried out. Aim: to assess the efficiency of a training program including bicycle ergometer training, moderate muscle strength training and the 6-min walk test and their influence on quality of life, anxiety and depression. Methods and results: Patients (67 male, 21 female) underwent a standardized 4-week training program. Baseline data: LVEFs31"8%; LVEDDs143"59 ml; peak VO s13.9"4.6 kgyml. No adverse side effects 2 could be observed. At discharge LVEF was 37"9%, (Ps0.001); LVEDDs131"44ml (Ps0.01); and peak VO s15.4"5.0 kgy 2 ml. Quality of life improved significantly in nearly all domains and in summary score. There were no significant changes in anxiety and depression. There is a negative correlation between the initial workload and changes in physical health (rsy0.42, Ps0.001) and only a weak correlation between age and positive changes in physical health (rs0.26, Ps0.05). Conclusions: A standardized training program including moderate muscle strength training could be performed safely and demonstrated improvement in clinical parameters and quality of life.

Physical Training Increases Endothelial Progenitor Cells, Inhibits Neointima Formation, and Enhances Angiogenesis

“…25 The maximum workload of ergometer training was defined to correspond to the heart rate measured at 60% to 80% of peak oxygen uptake. An initial warmup of 5 minutes at 15 W was followed by training units of 15 to 20 minutes.…”

“…Exercise capacity before and after the training program was assessed by peak oxygen uptake with a ramp protocol (initial level 25 W, 10-W increase every 10 minutes; Ergoline 900, Marquette/Hellige; Ergoscope, Ganshorn) and by a standardized 6-minute walking test. 25,26 …”

“…25 Patient characteristics are summarized in the Table. Medications were not changed Figure 3. VEGF, SDF-1, and apoptosis in exercise-induced EPC regulation.…”

Pathophysiological Relationships Between Heart Failure and Depression and Anxiety

“…96 The effects of an exercise program on depression in patients with heart failure were examined in 7 studies. [101][102][103][104][105][106][107] The exercise programs varied by type, intensity, frequency, duration, and patients' adherence. Despite the differences, the strength of the evidence was moderate that exercise is effective at decreasing depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure.…”

Effects of interventions on depression in heart failure: A systematic review

“…25,[33][34][35][36][37][38] No serious adverse events because of exercise were reported across all studies. Large heterogeneity in exercise prescriptions and participants' adherence may explain why some studies showed improvement, whereas others failed to show much effect (d range, .1 to .7).…”