Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2006 Dec;8(8):851-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejheart.2006.02.009. Epub 2006 Mar 6.

Effects of home-based exercise training on neurovascular control in patients with heart failure

Fábio Gazelato de Mello Franco  1 , Amilton C Santos, Maria Urbana P Rondon, Ivani C Trombetta, Célia Strunz, Ana Maria W Braga, Holly Middlekauff, Carlos E Negrão, Antônio C Pereira Barretto
Affiliations
Free article
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of home-based exercise training on neurovascular control in patients with heart failure

Fábio Gazelato de Mello Franco et al. Eur J Heart Fail. 2006 Dec.
Free article

Abstract

Background: The effect of home-based exercise training on neurovascular control in heart failure patients is unknown.

Aims: To test the hypothesis that home-based training would maintain the reduction in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and forearm vascular resistance (FVR) acquired after supervised training.

Methods and results: Twenty-nine patients (54+/-1.9 years, EF<40%) were randomised into two groups: untrained control (n=12) and exercise trained (n=17). Both groups underwent assessment of Quality of Life (QoL), MSNA, and forearm blood flow. The exercise group underwent a 4-month supervised training program followed by 4 months of home-based training. After the initial 4 months of training, patients in the exercise group showed a significant increase in peak VO(2) and reduction in MSNA, compared to the untrained group, but this was not maintained during 4 months of home-based training. In contrast, the decrease in FVR (56+/-3 vs. 46+/-4 vs. 40+/-2 U, p=0.008) and the improvement in QOL that were achieved during supervised training were maintained during home-based training.

Conclusions: Home-based training following supervised training is a safe strategy to maintain improvements in QoL and reduction in FVR in chronic heart failure patients, but is an inadequate strategy to maintain fitness as estimated by peak VO(2) or reduction in neurohumoral activation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types