Do you think you should take it easy after a heart attack? A new study says no.
Heart attack patients who are stable benefit most from starting exercise just one week after the heart attack, researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada found.
This is in contrast to doctors’ usual recommendations to wait a month before starting an exercise program. Study co-author Mark Haykowsky says it is important to “dispel the idea that what the heart needs is rest.” What the heart really needs is exercise over a long period of time. Haykowsky hails exercise as a “wonder drug that hasn’t been bottled.”
In experiments, patients who delayed starting an exercise program fell behind those who started exercise one week after a heart attack. For every week that a patient delayed exercise treatment, he had to train for the equivalent of a month longer to get the same results.
In Canada, where this research was done, only one-third of heart attack patients are referred to a rehabilitation center to start an exercise program. Of those, only 20 percent actually attend. But they are the ones who have the best recovery. The key is to start exercise within one week and stick with it, Haykowsky says.
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