Diastolisch hartfalen houdt in dat de hartspier niet meer goed genoeg ontspant in de vulfase… bv doordat het hart stijf is geworden (dwz niet meer zo elastisch als het hart hoort te zijn). Het kan zich door de stijfheid niet meer volledig vullen. Door middel van duursporten (wandelen, zwemmen, ook een tijdje tuinieren) is de stijfheid te voorkomen of te verminderen.
http://heartdisease.about.com/od/exerciseandheartdisease/a/exercisestiff.htm
[quote]Endurance Exercise Fights Stiff Heart
Is exercise the way to stave off diastolic dysfunction?
By Richard N. Fogoros, M.D., About.com Guide
Nov 30 2009
Investigators from the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas reported in the September 14 edition of Circulation(on-line) that long-term endurance exercise prevents the kind of stiffening of the heart muscle that often occurs with aging. Such stiffening leads to the form of heart failure that results from “diastolic dysfunction.” ( Click here to learn about diastolic dysfunction and diastolic heart failure.)
The researchers studied the hearts of 12 top level elderly endurance athletes (average age 70,) and compared the results to those seen in 12 age-matched individuals who were healthy but sedentary. They also compared the hearts of the older athletes with those of 14 young, sedentary individuals (average age 29).
They found that the amount of stiffness in the heart muscle was much greater in the elderly, sedentary individuals than in the athletic elderly individuals. Further, the hearts of the elderly athletes were no stiffer than the hearts of the younger sedentary subjects. The investigators conclude that lifelong endurance exercise can prevent the stiffening and atrophy of the heart muscle that is typically caused by aging.
Furthermore, the investigators found that if sedentary seniors who begin an endurance exercise program, they can significantly improve the effects of ageing on their heart muscles.
DrRich Comments:
Diastolic dysfunction is now shown to be yet another of the aging-related degenerative disorders that can be prevented with exercise. Exercise is looking more and more like the remedy for aging we’ve all been hoping for.[/quote]
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