Exercise After a Heart Attack
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
There can be complications after a heart attack, due to scarring, thinning of tissue, and other structural changes in or around the heart, but exercise can decrease damage. Animal research in Germany, published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, found that aerobic exercise could reduce the scarring and other harmful changes, reduce inflammation, and assist in recovery. Ideally, exercise would have also been part of an individual’s routine before a heart attack, but even if it wasn’t, it can still aid in recovery. “Our results suggest that the re-initiation of exercise can be recommended to patients relatively early” after heart attack, the researchers wrote.
