TEMPLE, TX — Baylor Scott and White doctors and researchers are teaming up with experts from across the state to improve the lives of heart failure patients.
Doctors explained to 25 News, those diagnosed with heart failure often have additional ailments, like arthritis, which often impede with the patients ability to exercise; and without exercise heart failure patients conditions often worsen.
Researchers at Baylor Scott and White are efforting a new study, conducting trails on alternative exercise regimens for their patients, by using aquatic therapy.
"The hypothesis is that compared to land based exercise they are going to have actually more mobility both before and after exercise and improve cardiac function" explained Catherine McNeal, M.D PHD Medical Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation at Baylor Scott and White.
McNeal's cohort, Albert Hicks, M.D MPH Medical Director of Heart Failure and Transplant, Baylor Scott and White, further explaining "we know that from many trails including our H.F. Action trail that heart failure patients who do cardiac rehab actually have increased survival...in the pool they have an opportunity to really not only get their heart rate up but also to do an activity that is something that they can do for the majority of the rest of their life."
The Baylor Scott and White team is collaborating with experts in aquatics at University of Texas and bio-engineers at Texas A&M University in their research.
Funded internally by the Baylor Cardiovascular Research Center, the teams efforts have all pointed towards positive results.
Awarded a small grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) the team looks forward to their findings and potentially positively impacting the lives of heart patients nationally.
