Heart Attack Maybe Survived Through Exercise

Researchers suggest that people who
work out might develop 'collateral' blood
vessels in the heart

Maybe this will be the news that finally jolts
you off the couch and into an exercise program.
A new study suggests that being physically
active increases the chances of survival after a
heart attack.
Researchers compared exercise levels among
1,664 heart attack patients in Denmark,
including 425 who died immediately.
Those who had been physically active were less
likely to die, and the risk of death decreased as
exercise levels rose. Patients who had light or
moderate/high physical activity levels were
32 percent and 47 percent less likely to die
from their heart attack , respectively, than
the sedentary patients.
The study was published April 12 in the
European Journal of Preventive Cardiology .
"We know that exercise protects people against
having a heart attack," said study co-author Eva
Prescott, a professor of cardiovascular
prevention and rehabilitation at the University of
Copenhagen.
"Animal studies suggest that myocardial
infarctions [heart attacks] are smaller and less
likely to be fatal in animals that exercise. We
wanted to see if exercise was linked with less
serious myocardial infarctions in people," she
added in a journal news release.
"One possible explanation is that people who
exercise may develop collateral blood vessels in
the heart which ensure the heart continues to
get enough blood after a blockage. Exercise
may also increase levels of chemical
substances that improve blood flow and reduce
injury to the heart from a heart attack,"
Prescott said.
She added this caveat: "This was an
observational study so we cannot conclude that
the associations are causal [cause and effect].
The results need to be confirmed before we can
make strong recommendations.
"But," Prescott added, "I think it's safe to say
that we already knew exercise was good for
health and this might indicate that continuing to
exercise even after developing atherosclerosis
[hardening of the arteries] may reduce the
seriousness of a heart attack if it does occur."

Source: Webmd