Special training strengthens heart of patients with pulmonary hypertension: study

A customized exercise program for patients with pulmonary hypertension could improve their oxygen uptake and heart strength, said a study of University Hospital Heidelberg on Wednesday.

Patients suffering from pulmonary hypertension have higher blood pressure in the lungs, so the heart has to work very hard to pump blood into the lungs and becomes more and more fatigued. However, a training developed for these patients helps counter those effects and provides appropriate support during treatment, said the study published in the European Heart Journal.

The study involved 95 selected patients regulated with medication. The physicians measured oxygen uptake of the participants of both training group and control group without training at the beginning and after 15 weeks, and undertook a right heart catheter test at rest and under exercise.

As the results showed, after 15 weeks of training, the maximum oxygen uptake under load improved among the patients, a sign that the body's muscles work more effectively.

Meanwhile, the pumping power of the right heart also increased by 20 percent under load.

"This is the first study that measures the effect of a particular training for pulmonary hypertension on the cardiovascular system using invasive measurements, and the first evidence that an exercise program can improve cardiac output of the critically ill patients," said lead author of the study Nicola Benjamin. Enditem