Physical activity can help with a ‘dancing’ heart rhythm. Against atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm disorder that causes the heart to beat fast and irregularly, and whose main manifestations are palpitations, shortness of breath, light-headedness and fatigue, a six-month exercise program helps maintain normal rhythm and reduces the severity of symptoms in patients. This was revealed by a research from the University of Adelaide, in Australia, presented at the virtual 2021 edition of the ESC congress, of the European Society of Cardiology.
Atrial fibrillation has a steadily increasing global prevalence: it is estimated to exceed 30 million people. The Australian study randomly assigned 120 patients with symptomatic disease to exercise surgery or routine care for six months. The intervention included supervised exercise (weekly for three months, then fortnightly for another three) and an individualized weekly plan to follow at home. Over the six months, the goal was to increase aerobic exercise up to 3.5 hours per week. The participants who performed the function of the control group received exercise advice but no active intervention and all patients received the usual medical care from the cardiologist.
A significant reduction in symptom severity at 12 months was observed in those who had performed the exercises compared to the control group. “This means – emphasizes Adrian Elliott, author of the research – that patients reported less severe palpitations, less shortness of breath and fatigue. Not only that: the analysis showed that a greater number of patients in the group that did the exercises could maintain a normal heart rhythm without the need for invasive interventions or continued use of drugs “. “As a general guide – he concludes – patients should strive to perform up to 3.5 hours per week of aerobic exercise and incorporate some higher intensity activities to improve cardiorespiratory fitness”. (HANDLE).
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