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FRIDAY, June 27, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- Don't be surprised if the person on the treadmill next to you at the gym turns out to be your doctor.
To emphasize how critical exercise can be in preventing and treating heart disease, doctors are being urged by the American Heart Association (AHA) to be more of a role model for their patients. That means becoming more physically active, working to make community fitness facilities more available, and the like.
Doctors also ought to actually prescribe fitness more often, the heart association says.
Simply put, data show that people with heart disease who exercise have a lower death rate, says Dr. Paul D. Thompson, director of Cardiovascular Research at Hartford Hospital, in Connecticut, and the lead author of a new AHA statement on the benefits of exercise on the heart, which appears in this week's issue of Circulation.
Today there's a tendency to treat heart disease with medication or invasive procedures alone, Thompson says. "But, we should not forget some of the simple things we can do to benefit cardiac patients," he says. "A lot of physicians underestimate the value of exercise."
People need to be physically active: "You should exercise at least 30 minutes a day until you are moderately short of breath," Thompson says. People with heart problems should check with their doctor before starting a vigorous exercise program, he stresses, "but there is no problem with everyone getting out and walking or doing yard work, etcetera."
"We consistently engineer exercise out of our environment," Thompson says. "More exercise needs to be engineered back into daily living."
And that applies to doctors and other health care workers as well, says the AHA. The new recommendations urge doctors to become more active themselves and to consistently ask patients about their exercise and recommend exercise more often. The statement is the first update of the association's recommendations since 1992.
Additionally, the AHA statement cites the need for further research on the best ways to make exercise a lifelong activity. More research also is needed on the amount of exercise that is most effective in reducing the risk of heart disease.
Dr. JoAnne Foody, a cardiologist and assistant professor at Yale University, says the AHA recommendation "tells us what we already know, but probably don't practice."
"Physical activity is essential in reducing the risk of heart disease," Foody adds. Exercise also helps in reducing blood pressure, reducing weight and cholesterol and improving diabetes, she says. In fact, she adds, doctors should emphasize to patients that, in many cases, exercise can be as beneficial as medication.
"Despite all the medical advances we have made, lifestyle changes, including exercise, are an important step in reducing the risk of heart disease," Foody says.
The first step for patients, she says, is to ask their doctors about specific lifestyle changes they could make, including exercise and diet, to improve their health.
More information
To learn more about heart disease and prevention, visit the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute or the American Heart Association
