focus on health
:::
get active
:::
Don't Fear
the Sneakers
Many people with
cardiovascular disease
may be hesitant to
exercise, especially if
they don't have much
experience with being
active. A few tips can help
you start slowly and safely .
• Seek your medical
provider's approval
before beginning any
exercise plan.
• Aerobic activity
(exercise that increases
the heart rate) is
especially benefi cial for
your heart, but take it
slowly at fi rst. Start with
warm-up movements
such as fi ve minutes
of easy walking. Then
move on to an activity
you feel comfortable
with, such as walking,
dancing or swimming.
• Stop exercising if you
feel dizziness, chest
pain or any other
troubling symptoms.
• Avoid exercising in
extreme heat or cold.
Instead, try swimming
in an indoor pool or
walking through a mall
or museum.
• If you have been
prescribed nitroglycerin
for angina, carry it with
you when you exercise.
• Turn it into a social
outing. Ask upbeat
friends and family
members to join you,
or meet new folks by
joining a mall-walking
group, for instance,
or signing up for a
beginners' class.
YOU S HOU LD TAKE your physician's orders to exercise just as seriously as you
would a prescription for a medication. In fact, exercise promotes survival better than
medication for certain cardiovascular conditions, according to a meta-analysis ("study
of studies") published by BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) in 2013.
MEDICINE
Heart-health boosters
can be found in your
medicine cabinet and
on your shoe rack, too.
For people with heart failure,
exercise WAS LESS EFFECTIVE
THAN medications — diuretics,
specifi cally — at lowering mortality.
RESEARCHERS REVIEWED RESULTS FROM HUNDREDS OF STUDIES,
AND FINDINGS INCLUDED:
Exercise PERFORMED BETTER than
medications at lowering mortality for stroke patients.
Exercise and
medication
WORKED EQUALLY
WELL at lowering
mortality for people with
coronary heart disease.
Sneaker
The researchers concluded that exercise and medications are, overall, equally
effective at lowering mortality for the cardiovascular conditions investigated.
"Exercise and many drug interventions are often potentially similar in terms
of their mortality benefi ts in the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease,
rehabilitation after stroke, treatment of heart failure and prevention of diabetes," the
researchers reported.
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