Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Block the clot
|
Exercise reduces the risk of blood clots to a certain extent
|
HEART ATTACKS usually happen when an atherosclerotic plaque lining the lumen of a coronary artery ruptures. Platelets accumulate at the site and kick off a cascade of events leading to clot formation, which further reduces or completely stops blood flow to the area of heart muscle supplied by that coronary artery.
Exercise reduces clot formation by enhancing fibrinolysis - the breakdown of blood clots. It also prevents clot formation in the first place by decreasing platelet adhesiveness and aggregation. This means that a lifestyle that involves exercise carries with it a reduced risk of heart attacks.
So what's the catch? It seems that not all exercise is good for the heart, especially when you are middle-aged and carry a bunch of risk factors for heart disease - like smoking, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol levels, obesity, family history of heart attacks, etc. Vigorous exercise can actually increase the risk of a heart attack in someone with a silent atherosclerotic plaque. Even accustomed exercise done in extremely cold weather counts as vigorous exercise.
Clot formation also appears to relate to the frequency of exercise. Those who exercise regularly have an increased ability to dissolve clots formed during exercise. The opposite is true for those who exercise infrequently.
Higher risk
Sedentary folk also have a greater risk of clot formation during unaccustomed exercise, compared with healthy people during accustomed exercise. This means that even with a normal fibrinolytic system, a sedentary person has a higher risk of clot formation and heart attack.
The good news is that a person's clot-busting tendency is not written in stone. One way to improve fibrinolysis is to start exercising regularly. Sedentary individuals who take up and maintain a regular programme of moderate aerobic exercise- like walking, cycling, and swimming, show improvements in fibrinolysis, both at rest and during exercise.
The hoopla about exercise and clots aside, the biggest decrease in clot-formation tendency and increase in fibrinolysis are with risk factor medication. Stop smoking, watch your diet, drink in moderation, maintain optimum blood glucose and cholesterol levels, and control hypertension and obesity.
Take all prescribed heart medication regularly, including an aspirin a day if your doctor advises it. Combined with regular exercise, these actions will decrease enormously your risk of suffering a heart attack.
RAJIV. M
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
