How much exercise?

[labguides]

Watched Dr. Oz on Oprah. I am confused by what he said.
He said that 60 minutes of exercise a WEEK raising heart rate to 80% of your maximum rate is enough.

I realize that it takes a while to get the heart rate up to that 80%. So.. if I exercise 30 minutes, not the entire time would be at 80%. In fact, I rarely get my heart rate up to 80%. My joints only go so fast.

 

[Mary]

I saw that show. I hoped they would show a valve patient, but no such luck!

 

[aussigal]

I didnt see the show...but am always on the lookout for such info.

I would be very interested to hear what sort of exercise is recommended for "waiting-room" patients like myself.

 

[mntbiker]

This doesn't really address the initial question but it is some additional information that may help.

Target heart rates are typically broken down into three categories.
1) 50 to 65 percent of Maximum heart rate (mhr=220-age).
This is the lowest level of beneficial excecise and should be maintained for 20 minutes per workout.

2) 65 to 80 percent of Maximum heart rate.
Typically this range is for very active people and people training for different types of athletic activities.

3) 80 to 95 percent of maximum heart rate.
This range is used to help performance athletes develop a burst of power.

So I would think that if he was suggesting achieving a heart rate of 80% it would be so people are completing the 20 minutes of elevated heart rate to derive benefit.

What you need to keep in mind is that for people with Aneurysm's the blood pressure during exercise also plays a part.

Aussiegal, you have an aneurysm. The line is drawn at 4.0. Over that number is an aneurysm under is a dilatation.

The range for the blood pressure would be kept under 170 for the systolic and 100 for the diastolic. That is for either/or not both.

Of course all of this would be dependent on what an actual doctor would say not some unknown entity behind a computer in the middle of the night.

 

[dmoses1]

. . . What you need to keep in mind is that for people with Aneurysm's the blood pressure during exercise also plays a part . . . The range for the blood pressure would be kept under 170 for the systolic and 100 for the diastolic. That is for either/or not both. . .

I don't have an aneurysm, but when I took my stress-echo test, my blood pressure was at 178/110 before it was even over (at maximum heart rate).

 

[CCRN]

I didnt see the show...but am always on the lookout for such info.

I would be very interested to hear what sort of exercise is recommended for "waiting-room" patients like myself.

I believe walking on gently sloping landscape, avoiding flights of stairs, and not lifting more than 30 lbs would be recommended to you dear. That was what was highly recommended to me BEFORE my 4.5 aneurysm was discovered. My cardiologist seriously told me I could actually drop dead if I did much more than walking for exercise after my gradient jumped to over 100. He's not an alarmist type either. Not trying to scare you due to the Halloween season. Only being honest out of concern for you. By the way, do ya'll do the Halloween thing in Australia?

 

[mntbiker]

I don't have an aneurysm, but when I took my stress-echo test, my blood pressure was at 178/110 before it was even over (at maximum heart rate).

Since you don't have an aneurysm the blood pressure is not as important during workouts as target heart range.

 

[aussigal]

.


Aussiegal, you have an aneurysm. The line is drawn at 4.0. Over that number is an aneurysm under is a dilatation.
[/QUOTE]
OK...I shall change my sig. line Thats what they have written on my CT scan.

Yes I read the same book as you on the size of these things
This is why I am still concerned that my Cardioligist doesnt seem to be up to the same chapter as me yet ....unless it is his way of getting my BP back down to a safer level with new pills , its working well its only been a week and already its 117/77 .

...He knows I already know the big-picture...
I just want him to be straight with me....he appears to be so but I have a feeling there is something-else on his mind and he is not telling me the whole story yet


OK...apologies for "butting-in" on your thread labguides please forgive me

 

[aussigal]

so how little exercise do you feel would be indicated for myself...this is also somthing i shall be discussing with y doctors, but would appreciate input from those whov'e "been there and done that" !
and Nup...no Halooween here...there are a few that do it but you could count em on one hand...shame...but its got something special to do with your guys history anyways hasnt it...

 

[mntbiker]

so how little exercise do you feel would be indicated for myself...this is also somthing i shall be discussing with y doctors, but would appreciate input from those whov'e "been there and done that"

Did you find out if you have marfans? That would definitely be an issue with how much exercise you can tolerate. An aneurysm from a connective tissue disorder needs to be handled differently than an aneurysm as a result of pressure. To find out how much exercise you can tolerate and what type you need to know how your BP is affected at different points in the exercise you choose. The Dr may define different limitations then what I had listed for the top numbers for BP.

My BP unfortunately is at 135/90 (medicated) so I am running near the upper threshold to start. I still do my normal excercise but I have sent many members on this site into fits over it You definitely want to limit the weight you lift, I was put on a 35lb limit (can't lift my sons ) Of course this is all dependent on the doc.

What was your exercise regime before?

 

[aussigal]

My current exercise is 3 times a week I join the "oldies" in hydrotherapy and float around the pool relaxing., and I mean realaxing...the Physiotherapist there is aware of my condition and is keeping me totally relaxed . I also have a quiet stroll around the streets for 30 minutes 3 to 5 times a week depending on the weather and how I am feeling.
Now before all this I was fairly inactive due to 3 herniated Lumbar discs and facet-joint disease in my lower back which had pretty much stopped me doing anything...so the only exercise i got was cleaning the house...I get quite short of breath very-easily and dont even hang the washing out it goes straight in the dryer cos i get puffed holding my arms up and claudication begins within a few minutes ,. my whole body is not very tolerant of exercise and stamina is not a word I would use to describe myself in relation to physical exertion...
weight-lifting ...lol...you gotta be kidding I gave that up wihen I retired from scuba-diving and bungee-jumping ...seriously tho, yeah I had discovered that if i carry something i do it at waist height and dont carry much over about 5 Kilos/10 lbs ,anything-else is too heavy for my dodgy elbows! also with my back I dont do much lifting , luckily i had the kids before i got sick, i would hate to have to cart them around now
...I had kinda decided it was natures way of keeping me alive until some doctor listened to me enough to get this diagnosed...I always slow down whenever I am not feeling right, somedays a bed in a nursing-home sounds like a good idea .

my BP was around 144/95 and higher on the ACE inhibitor , until the Cardio changed pills a week ago to coversyl plus and metropol, now i just drink water like its going out of fashion.

Now I have the big appointment with the Genetics centre on the 25th November so we shall have to wait a lil while to see if its marfans or just Marfan-like , in the mean-time my youngest son has an echocardiogram on Thursday this week to see if he has the bicuspid-valve like his mumma ( we picked Steve as the first guinea-pig cos he is most like me/Marfans in physical characteristics). he is looking forward to seeing inside his heart on Television ...I am not looking forward to being right again tho.
They are also going to grab my sister who is currently 33 weeks preggo ., and mum just to rule that side of the family out...

 

[tommy]

80% sounds high to me.

 

[PJmomrunner]

The range for the blood pressure would be kept under 170 for the systolic and 100 for the diastolic

I was told to keep systolic BP under 135 while exercising and told that this is generally the case IF systolic BP at rest is kept between 105 and 110. I was also told to keep my exercise heartrate 110 or under.

Did you find out if you have marfans? That would definitely be an issue with how much exercise you can tolerate. An aneurysm from a connective tissue disorder needs to be handled differently than an aneurysm as a result of pressure.

Aussigal has a BAV. Aneurysms associated with BAV's (Like yours and mine, Mtnbiker) are not "as a result of pressure." While BP or hemodynamics may contribute to location or contour, research has shown that the aneurysm develops because of the make-up of the tissue associated with the BAV. I was told by my aortic specialist surgeon that having Marfan's would not change my treatment.

 

[mntbiker]

Aussigal has a BAV. Aneurysms associated with BAV's (Like yours and mine, Mtnbiker) are not "as a result of pressure." While BP or hemodynamics may contribute to location or contour, research has shown that the aneurysm develops because of the make-up of the tissue associated with the BAV. I was told by my aortic specialist surgeon that having Marfan's would not change my treatment.

Hi P.J.,
I asked her about marfans because she was going to be tested for it and I could not remember when she was getting it done or if it had been done. My statement about pressure leading to an aneurysm was in the context of different causes not to imply that was why she had one. Not all BAV's have an associated tissue disorder.

 

[aussigal]

mmm...so you are in quite a similar "waiting-place" to me PJ except yours is 4.5 ( wanna swap?)...I must read up on you . I am forever curious and now to find a whole-world full of people like me ...

I knew about Marfans and connective tissue disorders long before I knew what my BAV was all about...and I had learnt about my "weak-skin basically" .
I always remember being told how lovely my skin was as a young girl, now its ummm...well lose ...I bruise easily and scar forever.

I have read where these experts discuss the fragility of the Aorta being commonly associated with BAV and also aneurysms along the route of the aorta . EG: Abdominal aneurysm... ...dont want one of them either. I know my Abdomen gets very sore sometimes when I do my walks.

 

[PJmomrunner]

Hi Aussigal:

We chatted quite a bit when you first came aboard, comparing our Marf-like symptoms.

I will be very interested to see what, if any, link unfolds between MFS and BAVD in the future. It seems to be more than coincidental that you and I and others with BAV's also have Marf-like symptoms. The MFS website actually considers BAVD a related syndrome (or something like that), but I've yet to find any explanation of a link

Hi Mtnbiker: (Is it Dave??? Too tired to go look...)

I think it's a bit tricky to say BAV's do or do not have a related tissue disorder. The medical literature is pretty clear that a BAV is made of abnormal tissue and that ascending aortas associated with BAV's are embryogenically also made up of that same abnormal tissue and are, on average, larger than aortas associated with TAV's (Frequency of aortic root dilation in children with a bicuspid aortic valve, Michelle Gurvitz MD, , Ruey-Kang Chang MD, MPH, Stacey Drant MD and Vivekanand Allada MD; Aortic dimensions in patients with bicuspid aortic valve without significant valve dysfunction,Cecconi M, Manfrin M, Moraca A, Zanoli R, Colonna PL, Bettuzzi MG, Moretti S, Gabrielli D, Perna GP), although, as you say, they may never reach that "magic" 4.0cm that puts them in the category of aneurysmal. I do not believe there is consensus within the medical community as to whether this funky BAV/ascending aortic tissue constitutes a tissue disorder (which, to me, implies systemic pathology beyond the BAV, ascending and arch and perhaps even beyond vascular histology). To me the distinction of "tissue disorder" is immaterial and if one has a BAV there is reason to worry about an ascending aortic aneurysm.

 

[aussigal]

I am sitting here nodding my head PJ...we must have been reading the same literature ...

cos thats how I understood it as well...I think its Fibrilin (sp?) that they are still working on trying to figure out if there is a defect there and the more of us who get together and join studies of this type the closer and quicker they are gonna get some answers...
Mum has been busy compiling her side of the Family tree but I need to get myself activated and chase-up Dads' side because that's where this in my mind is almost certain to have come from. At least I have my Dads and his fathers' death certificates thats a very good start...except they died over 30 years ago and some of their medical records if not all are long-gone .

I almost got a double-whammy of this cos mum's side have lots of arthritic stuff (spurs and dodgy discs and bad backs) and high cholesterol problems, dads side had the heart problems that include chronic high BP and early sudden death , dads' @ 38 was called a coronary occlusion and pops' @ 52 a cerebral haemorhage. My cholesterol is at the level you would expect to find in a teenager . (another subtle "marker").