Introduction
Myocardial infarction (MI) is a cardiovascular problem resulting from plaques in artery walls. The plaques reduce the flow of blood to the heart and harm heart muscles due to inadequate oxygen supply. This is one of the leading heart problems in the world. Many people across the globe, especially the elderly, are highly vulnerable to Myocardial infarction. The problem is highly associated with a sedentary lifestyle and ageing. National Forum for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention (2022) states that over 800,000 people in America experience a heart attack each year, and 12% of this population die. The statistics are scary and show the need for interventions to prevent the problem from causing death. Health organizations and authorities have come up with several therapy alternatives to curb the adverse effect of MI. They include percutaneous transluminal Coronary Angioplasty, thrombolytic medication and Coronary artery bypass grafting. Currently, exercise has been brought to the picture as one of the measures applications in the management of MI. research shows that exercise like walking, participating in sports and stair climbing have a negative relationship with the MI mortality rate. The strategy is then recommended for people with MI, especially the elderly. Therefore, this report sought to present the effects of exercise on preventing myocardial infarction.
Overview of Myocardial Infarction
Also called heart attack, MI is a heart-related problem resulting from partial or complete blockage of coronary arteries disrupting blood flow to the heart and reducing the oxygen saturation in the heart. Without treatment, the heart muscles are damaged over time. Xing et al. (2020) present coronary artery disease (CAD) as the primary cause of Mi among individuals. A less common cause is the sudden contraction of arteries curbing blood flow through the heart muscle. Risk factors responsible for vulnerability to MI include lifestyle, underlying health condition, age, and history of MI in the family (Musher et al., 2019). Also, about half of Americans are entitled to either high blood pressure, smoking or increased cholesterol in the body as a risk factor for MI. People may have alternatives for controlling the risk factors, but others, like age and family history, are uncontrollable. Understanding the symptoms of MI is also crucial since it can help an individual seek relevant help and medical intervention. The symptoms are chest pain, faint feeling, and discomfort in the neck, jaw, arms or shoulders and back, alongside shortness of breath (Musher et al., 2019).
Effects of exercise on myocardial infarction
There are multiple benefits associated with exercise. The major role of physical activity in human health is captured from the MI perspective in this report. It concerns organized and planned body movements like swimming, aerobics, yoga and strength exercises meant to enhance physical capabilities.
The crucial effect of exercise on myocardial infarction is that it controls risk factors causing the problem among the elderly. Fletcher et al. (2018) justify that ageing remains a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) among people aged 65 years and above. The factor is linked with the total work capacity (TWC) and peak oxygen uptake, resulting in about a third of age-related decay. When risk factors for a health issue are known, it is much easy to handle the problem by controlling the factors (Xing et al., 2020). Exercise may not be effective in controlling ageing as a factor but can be effective in handling issues to do with sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity. When the elderly fail to exercise, there is a high risk of experiencing an ageing-related increase in longitudinal strain. Exercise is a good way to decrease LS by enhancing left ventricular (LV) diastolic filling. In the long run, regular exercises reduce the risk of chronic heart disease among the ageing population. For instance, Niederseer et al. (2011) found that improving exercise and getting rid of body fat caused lower risks of experiencing Cardiovascular attacks. Conclusively, engaging in exercises and physical training could boost physical functioning and curb the effect of risk factors related to ageing and heart problems. This suggests that the elderly should always do physical exercises and live a healthy life free from myocardial infarction and other types of CVDs.
According to Xing et al. (2020), exercise positively affects cardiopulmonary rehabilitation (CR) for heart attack parents. CR is a planned outpatient activity involving exercise and education to reduce the chances of the previous heart attack problem re-occurrence. Recovering MI patients often experience LV dysfunction, which requires remodelling. During MI acute phase, exercise may be leveraged. Maessen and other scholars 2017 studied the role of exercise during CR involving over 60 individuals aged 60 and above. The study found that lifelong physical practice helps maintain LV systolic function and get rid of adverse effects of LV remodelling. The exercise led to an increase in systolic and LV end-diastolic volumes in the bog (Maessen et al., 2017). Generally, cardiac circulation is necessary for the prevention of MI and can be achieved through exercise. In a nutshell, exercising during CR boosts cardiac circulation results in MI patients leading to reduced risks and chances of suffering from MI attack in future.
Despite massive data illustrating the positive benefits of exercise to people suffering from myocardial infarction, there are potential negative effects that may occur to anyone depending on the level of prevalence. Elshazly et al. (2018) report that there are several cases of MI and sudden death that occur due to high levels of physical exertion. Physical exertion may lead to a heart attack in various ways. First, exercise may lead to haemodynamic stress, which triggers MI. Also, vasoconstriction occurs instead of dilation since exercise may cause endothelial dysfunction. Here, increased platelet disposition and high sheer force disrupt blood flow. Apart from these ways, Mittleman and Mostofsky (2011) also found that more infarct cases are occurring in the morning. The statement, therefore, recommends that morning exercise may be part of the rise in MI cases and death rates. However, there is little evidence linking morning exercise to cardiovascular health issues.
Conclusion
The rise in cardiovascular diseases today demands long-term solutions. Lifestyle is becoming more sedentary, and many people have become more susceptible to the problem of myocardial infarction. A person experiencing a heart attack may have chest pain, faint feeling, discomfort in the neck, jaw, arms or shoulders and back, alongside shortness of breath. Physicians and psychologists have come up with multiple medical approaches to solve the problem. However, exercise is recommended to reduce MI cases and sudden death, especially among the elderly. Research shows that exercise controls manageable risk factors of MI, such as a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise leads to a small risk of experiencing chronic heart diseases like MI by reducing body fat. Also, exercise affects the effectiveness of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation for patients experiencing a heart attack. Hence, exercise is widely used to reduce the chances of suffering from MI. It is therefore recommended that everyone should do physical exercise to be on a safe end. However, uncontrolled exercise may trigger MI, and it is advisable for individuals, mostly the old, to exercise in monitored environments. Generally, exercise has a higher positive effect on vulnerability to MI.
Recommendations
- Based on the positive effects of exercise on MI, it is recommended that people with the problem should engage in regular exercise to improve their health and alleviate the disease. On the other hand, people without this problem have to also do exercise to avoid getting the attack. The recommendation is highly useful for the ageing population due to the high level of vulnerability to myocardial infarction.
- People with MI should also engage in physical exertion under supervision and control to avoid worsening the problem. As stated, physical activity may trigger MI.
References
Elshazly, A., Khorshid, H., Hanna, H., & Ali, A. (2018). Effect of exercise training on heart rate recovery in patients post anterior myocardial infarction. The Egyptian Heart Journal, 70(4), 283-285.
Mittleman, M. A., & Mostofsky, E. (2011). Physical, psychological and chemical triggers of acute cardiovascular events: preventive strategies. Circulation, 124(3), 346-354.
Fletcher, G. F., Landolfo, C., Niebauer, J., Ozemek, C., Arena, R., & Lavie, C. J. (2018). Promoting physical activity and exercise: JACC health promotion series. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 72(14), 1622-1639. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2018.08.2141
Niederseer, D., Ledl‐Kurkowski, E., Kvita, K., Patsch, W., Dela, F., Mueller, E., & Niebauer, J. (2011). Salzburg Skiing for the Elderly Study: changes in cardiovascular risk factors through skiing in the elderly. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 21, 47-55. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2011.01341.x
National Forum for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention. (2022). 805,000 Heart Attacks Annually. Retrieved from
Xing, Y., Yang, S. D., Wang, M. M., Feng, Y. S., Dong, F., & Zhang, F. (2020). The beneficial role of exercise training for myocardial infarction treatment in elderly. Frontiers in Physiology, 11, 270.
Maessen, M. F., Eijsvogels, T. M., Stevens, G., van Dijk, A. P., & Hopman, M. T. (2017). Benefits of lifelong exercise training on left ventricular function after myocardial infarction. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 24(17), 1856-1866.
Musher, D. M., Abers, M. S., & Corrales-Medina, V. F. (2019). Acute infection and myocardial infarction. New England Journal of Medicine, 380(2), 171-176.
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