- Plaque that forms in the blood arteries that help supply the heart with oxygen and nutrients can lead to coronary artery disease.
- People who suffer from coronary artery disease should engage in regular physical exercise if they want to see an improvement in their ability to function and their overall quality of life.
- According to the findings of one piece of research, one form of physical activity known as “Nordic walking” may be particularly beneficial.
Because it distributes the necessary amounts of blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the rest of the body, the heart is an organ that is necessary for continued existence. There are a variety of conditions that can affect the heart’s capacity to perform its functions. Disease of the coronary arteries is one example of this kind of issue. Researchers are always hard at work trying to figure out how coronary artery disease patients might have their health improved in the most effective way.
The effects of various forms of physical activity on people who already have coronary artery disease were investigated in a research that was just published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. The authors discovered that all of the different forms of exercise they researched had benefits, but they discovered that Nordic walking gave the greatest substantial effect.
The relationship between doing regular exercise and reducing the risk of coronary artery disease
To maintain a healthy body, physical exercise is necessary, and this is especially true for the cardiovascular system. In a recent post on its blog, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provided the following information, which was derived from a trusted source:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most frequent kind of heart disease in the United States.” Trusted Source Plaque can build up and clog the walls of the arteries that carry blood to the heart, which can lead to coronary artery disease (CAD).
When someone suffers a heart attack, this might be one of the earliest signs that they have coronary artery disease (CAD). Through cardiac rehabilitation, patients can work with trained medical specialists to regain their health after suffering a heart attack. Exercise and other forms of movement are frequently incorporated into cardiac rehabilitation programmes in order to promote better overall heart health.
In most cases, the therapy for CAD might consist of adopting a lifestyle that is good for the heart, which includes engaging in regular physical exercise. Other components of treating coronary artery disease may include the control of weight and stress, the consumption of a diet that is good for the heart, and the cessation of smoking. The research community is still trying to determine which forms of physical activity offer the most advantages both in the short and long terms.
Comparing Nordic walking to HIIT and MICT
In the investigation at hand, there were a total of 130 people who had coronary artery disease (CAD) and had previously been referred to a cardiovascular rehabilitation (CR) programme. Participants finished an exercise regimen that lasted for a total of 12 weeks. After then, the researchers undertook a follow-up that lasted for a total of 14 weeks. Participants were assigned to one of three distinct types of exercise programmes, which were as follows:
exercise with short bursts of high intensity (HIIT)
continuous training with intensities ranging from moderate to strong (MICT)
Walking the Nordic Way
Dr. Chip Lavie, who was in charge of leading the editorial that accompanied the publication, walked MNT through the distinctions between the following sorts of exercises:
The researchers assessed the functional capabilities of the subjects.
Trusted Source, which refers to the utmost amount of effort that a person is capable of exerting when engaging in physical exercise. But the researchers took it a step further and investigated how the various forms of exercise affected quality of life as well as symptoms of sadness.
According to the findings of the research, each of the different types of exercise had a beneficial effect on each of the following aspects: functional ability, quality of life, and symptoms of depression. Those who participated in the Nordic walking group, on the other hand, had the greatest improvement in their functional ability as a result of their activity of choice.
Importance, as well as potential directions for further research
Previous research has frequently concentrated more on the immediate outcomes of cardiovascular rehabilitation, as the authors of this study emphasised. Nevertheless, their study had a longer follow-up duration, which enabled them to collect an even bigger amount of data.
The study does contain a number of important shortcomings. First, they point out that study subjects kept up the same levels of physical activity even after the first period of 12 weeks during which they participated in regular exercise regimens. However, some studies have indicated that after completing cardiovascular rehabilitation, a person’s level of physical activity may drop if they have coronary artery disease (CAD). The authors of this study came to the conclusion that next research should focus more on investigating the long-term advantages of various forms of physical activity.
Second, all of the individuals were recruited by the same centre. In conclusion, the research only involved a limited number of female participants, which means that the findings cannot be generalised. In general, the findings point to the need of physical activity for maintaining healthy cardiac function. And it’s possible that more patients with CAD may start doing Nordic walking, which is a fantastic form of exercise.