If you want a "pill" to fix your heart, try exercise. Physical therapy used on people after a heart attack enables them to live longer than those who do get no therapy. Research using rats has shown that exercise can even be more effective than statins, the drugs normally used to treat heart disease.
Research has found that exercise sparks the creation of new heart vessels. In a study of 37 people at Leipzig University in Germany, Dr. Robert Hollriegel found that people with serious heart failure who rode a bike for up to 30 minutes a day for four months produced new stem cells in their bones. Those in the study who exercised also had more small blood vessels in their muscles. Those who didn't exercise had no change in their vessels or muscles.
The way it works is that physical activity strains the heart's arteries and muscles by sending 10 times the normal amount of blood to the muscles being used. Then stem cells are sent to relieve this stress and may repair any damaged parts. If the exercise is continued, the stem cells help the body adapt to the stress by building new blood vessels and strengthening muscles. To maintain the benefits of the new blood vessels and stronger muscles, the exercise must be done on a regular basis.
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