Patients with heart failure (HF) were once discouraged from participating in exercise programs because of concerns regarding safety and the potential for harm to an already damaged myocardium. However, studies over the last 3 decades have provided extensive insights into both the health outcome benefits of exercise and the mechanisms underlying these benefits. Studies on the outcome benefits of exercise training, including mortality and hospitalization, have been convincing. This article reviews the physiologic benefits of exercise training in HF, studies on exercise training in women, results and implications of the HF-ACTION trial, and recent meta-analyses using the Cochrane data base.
Keywords: Aerobic capacity; Cardiac output; Cardiac rehabilitation; Oxygen uptake; Prognosis.
Published by Elsevier Inc.