Atrial fibrillation is a condition of the heart that affects its rhythm, causing it to beat irregularly and quickly. Patients often experience heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, fatigue, and symptoms associated with asphyxiation.
In this trial, conducted by ACTIVE-AF, patients with atrial fibrillation were prescribed six-month exercise programs to maintain their heart rhythms in an attempt to increase quality of life and reduce the severity of the symptoms associated with atrial fibrillation. Exercise rehabilitation is often prescribed to patients with other diseases of the heart. ACTIVE-AF’s program had its 120 patients undergo an intervention of supervised (weekly for 3 months, every other week for 3 months) and unsupervised (week based scheduled) aerobic exercise for up to 3.5 hours per week. The six-month follow up only included patients who had restorable rhythms.
As a result of the study and 6 month program, the severity of the atrial fibrillation and proportion of recurrence after 12 months was observed. At 12 months, the atrial fibrillation of the exercise group was lower than that of the control group that underwent no exercise intervention with 60% and 80% recurrence proportions respectively. Those in the exercise group also reported less severe symptoms of the condition. With these findings, we can associate the higher aerobic fitness of performing aerobic activity for 3.5 hours a week over a six month period with a higher chance of maintaining normal heart rhythm alongside prescribed medications.
With this trial, and with other similar trials that demonstrate the importance of aerobic fitness with reducing all-cause mortality, it becomes even more clear the need for people to be healthy and active in their day to day lives. Being active does not have to be painful, annoying, or time consuming. Being active and increasing your heart rate for just half an hour a day would meet the 3.5 hours a week requirement as imposed in the ACTIVE-AF trial. I believe that all people should at least consider becoming fit, not only for health, but for enjoyment and for improving quality of life. Improving cardiovascular fitness should especially be considered if you have preexisting conditions like atrial fibrillation and other ailments of the heart.
Alan Papenfuhs (2)
Great job, this is such an informative post! It's really motivating to see how beneficial being active can be, and it's pretty cool that a simple change in routine can cause such a huge effect on one's physical health.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to know if participants exercised 3.5 hours a week regularly before they were diagnosed with arterial fibrillation, would they have not developed it at all? Is exercise a way of preventing this condition from the beginning?
-Emma Alderman-Shapiro
Absolutely true! It does make me wonder if other studies have been carried out looking into using exercise as 'pre-hab' or in order to prevent the onset of diseases. Regardless, cardiovascular health is super important.
DeleteThis is a very cool connection between exercise and atrial fibrillation; over time exercise lowers heart rate, and atrial fibrillation is often a very rapid irregular heart beat. I didn't really understand this connection of heart rate and exercise at first but then I read that during exercise blood vessels become enlarged in response to an increased heart rate to supply the muscles blood. Overtime this causes a decrease in baseline heart rate.
ReplyDelete- Declan Downing
This is a really interesting and informative post. This study has shown the importance of exercise even for those who have pre-existing health conditions. I didn't know that exercise had such a positive impact on those with heart conditions such as atrial fibrillation. This shows that everyone really should consider any form of exercise as the health benefits improve overall quality of life.
ReplyDelete- Zach Conant
Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death in the United States, so keeping that organ healthy through cardiovascular training is great! Increasing your heart rate frequently through moderate to intense exercise is a great way to improve quality of life and avoid potential illness.
DeleteI wonder if this is the first time this study has done, or if it is merely the first time ACTIVE-AF has done it. Because I think the correlation between increased cardiovascular exercise and improved heart health seems like it would be well established. I wonder if comparable papers got similar results?
ReplyDelete-William Sobchuk
They did discuss in their paper that few studies have looked into this disease and it's relation to cardiovascular endurance training. I would image as time goes on and new studies are conducted and published, we will get a better understanding of how cardiovascular health affects abnormalities in heart rhythm.
DeleteReally informative and motivating to see how exercise can be really important for people who have pre-existing health conditions. Especially how it helps keep your heart in the best condition it can be
ReplyDelete-Selena Yim