A little exercise can go a long way for congestive heart failure patients.
A study in rats that were predisposed to heart failure found the rats that exercised moderately had a 15% extension in life span.
Researchers say humans and rat hearts are very similar, and a simple walk every day may prolong lifespan and delay heart failure symptoms in humans.
Heart failure happens when the heart progressively weakens until it can't pump very hard and fluid backs up into the lungs.
The rats were predisposed to heart failure and had hypertension. Of the rats that didn't exercise 9/10 developed terminal heart failure. 10 out of 10 exercising rats didn't die = 15% extension in life span (could have been longer had study gone longer). The study lasted 22 months.
Based on research from other labs, it appears that low intensity exercise is probably safe for people with developing heart failure, in fact it may be beneficial and may prolong life span or delay the development of heart failure.
In this study, researchers intervened at the beginning of heart failure (not when there were still no signs of the condition) and the rats showed this positive benefit.
This is encouraging news for cardiac rehab programs.
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