The Healthy Heart

A heart that is kept healthy through exercise maintains clear coronary arteries.

On the contrary, when the arteries become blocked through lack of exercise, the blood supply is reduced and a section of the heart muscle stops functioning, resulting in a heart attack or even in death.

And how does exercise help the heart? It does so through use. It also needs oxygen. Exercise enables the lungs to operate more efficiently, thereby delivering more oxygen through the coronary arteries to the heart.. The supply of oxygen enables the heart to function at a lower blood pressure without having to work as hard.

One of the more widely reported effects of physical activity on heart function is the development of extra circulation routes when the main coronary artery branches become blocked.

According to Dr. William B. Kannel of Harvard University, “Persons who have an important degree of blockage of the coronary artery, but continues being physically active, can reasonably be expected to develop more collateral circulation than those with comparable coronary involvement who remain inactive.”

It comes as no surprise that exercise may protect against heart disease by preventing the accumulation of excess weight. But how many people know about studies which indicate that exercise lowers blood levels of cholesterol, a fatty acid which is believed to lead to the formation of plaques which clog arteries in atherosclerosis? Atherosclerosis is the thickening of, and loss of elasticity in, the inner walls of arteries.

Do you know that the link between exercise and heart disease was first suspected in 1854? However, it was not until 1951 that English physician Dr. Percy Stocks reported that coronary heart disease accounted for 15 percent of the deaths among laborers and 40 percent of the deaths among sedentary workers. From all over the globe, unshakeable evidence suggests that exercise will prevent heart disease.