before Multiple clinical studies have identified a link between high levels of stress and risk of death in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD ).
Aerobic exercise training is a standard part of rehabilitation programs for patients with CAD. properly supervised exercise training program for patients with CAD, including patients who had suffered a heart attack, has been shown to reduce the risk of CAD-related death. At the same time, it is known that regular aerobic exercise can also help patients to better cope with high levels of personal stress, and also improves symptoms of depression and other mental health disorders, as well.
intriguing clinical research studies, recently published in the American Journal of Medicine, evaluated the influence of exercise training on risk of death in patients with CAD. two "experimental" group of patients included 53 patients with CAD who reported high levels of stress in their lives, and 369 patients with CAD who reported low levels of stress in their personal lives. These two groups of patients participated in cardiac rehabilitation program that includes formal aerobic exercise training. "control" group of 27 patients with CAD and was included in this study, and these control patients also reported high levels of stress in their lives. However, unlike the experimental group of patients, this control group was not cardiac rehabilitation, or any other form of supervised exercise training. subsequent results of this clinical research study are quite dramatic.
In general, the risk of death in patients with CAD who reported high stress levels is a whopping 4 times higher than the mortality of patients with low levels of stress in their lives (22 percent compared to 5 percent, respectively ).
As shown in previous clinical studies, regular aerobic exercise seems to reduce self-reported levels of stress. In this study, the percentage of patients reporting severe stress levels fell from 10 percent at the beginning of the study, to 4 percent, to end of the study, patients who have undergone formal training exercises.
Perhaps the most interesting findings from this study was that patients who have increased their overall exercise capacity for at least 10 percent also reduced their risk of death rather amazing 60 percent compared with patients who achieved less than 10 percent improvement in exercise capacity . Moreover, in patients who reported high levels of stress in their lives, the risk of dying during this clinical study was dramatically reduced in patients who were able to increase before the exercise capacity for at least 10 percent. In fact, while 19 percent "very stressed" patients who have achieved little or no improvement in exercise capacity during the study died, none of the "stressed" CAD patients who were able to increase its capacity to exercise at least 10 percent of the died. On the other hand, CAD patients reporting low levels of personal stress did not appear to experience any significant improvement in mortality risk that you have achieved a high level of improved exercise capacity and low exercise capacity improvement.
The results of this study indicate that (as has previously been shown) a high level of personal stress independently associated with increased risk of dying from the previous CAD. second finding of this study, which was also confirmed by other studies, that self-perceived stress levels can be significantly reduced with regular aerobic exercise. The most interesting and novel finding of this study, however, that exercising at a level that increases the capacity to exercise a minimum of 10 percent appears to be a potentially powerful way to reduce the increased risk of mortality associated with chronically elevated levels of personal stress in patients with CAD.
One of the potential limitations of this study is that it is not clear how well the patients in each group were matched in terms of severity of their CAD (and other chronic diseases, including mental health and personality disorders). For example, at least some of the experimental group patients who were not able to improve their exercise capacity at least 10 percent may not be able to do so due to the presence of serious diseases (including more severe heart disease), which limited their ability to exercise. In such cases, an increased risk of mortality in this study may have been directly caused by the presence of more severe disease in these patients compared to patients who were more able to dramatically improve their ability to exercise. However, as most of the findings of this study of clinical research are consistent with the larger and better-controlled previous studies, it is very likely that there is some validity in the conclusions of several novels (and, above all, that is strong and regular aerobic exercise can directly reduce stress-related physiological factors that increase the risk of dying from CAD ).
Before embarking on a new or more vigorous exercise program, I advise you to first be evaluated by your personal physician, especially if you have CAD or other serious diseases. (For in-depth review of the benefits of exercise on cancer prevention, to seek publication of my new book, "Guide for the Prevention of Cancer Human Race", in spring 2010 .)
Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity
information in this column is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or recommendation by the authors. Please consult with your physician before making any lifestyle changes or medication, or if you have any other questions regarding your health.
