Physical activity is an important therapeutic measure in the treatment of heart failure: regular exercise promotes both the growth of new muscle cells and the sprouting of new vessels into the muscle. Regular physical endurance training of moderate intensity twice daily for at least 15 minutes on a cycle ergometer has very beneficial effects for patients with heart failure.
Study results: The number of muscular progenitor cells (adult stem cell derivatives) increased by 109%, and the number of those that differentiated into muscle cells increased by as much as 166%. Muscle repair processes even increased by a factor of six. This physical activity almost normalized the number of progenitor cells, and the cells began to divide again and differentiate into myocytes (muscle cells). It is not yet known whether the same effects take place in the heart muscle.
However, the patients also felt better subjectively, with their exercise tolerance increasing by 20%. In another study, the research group examined progenitor cells from bone marrow, which circulate in the blood and are responsible for vascular repair processes and the formation of new vessels. In heart failure (cardiac insufficiency), this system is also disturbed: Muscular blood vessels no longer expand as desired, and the number of muscular capillaries decreases.
Physical activity was also shown to have a positive effect: After 12 weeks of exercise, the absolute number of progenitor cells increased by 47% and the number of those that differentiated into endothelial cells (cells of the inner wall of blood vessels) increased by 199%. Furthermore, sprouting of new capillaries into muscle was observed.
