Rehab Training Cuts Heart Attack Risk Factor

Participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program for just 3 months can help patients with heart disease reduce blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker linked to heart attack and stroke, new research indicates.

Participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program for just 3 months can help patients with heart disease reduce blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker linked to heart attack and stroke, new research indicates. Treatment with cholesterol-lowering drugs has been shown to reduce CRP levels. The new findings suggest another way that patients can reduce their CRP levels, lead author Dr. Richard V. Milani and colleagues, from the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, note. As reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the researchers compared the CRP levels of 235 patients who participated in a rehabilitation program with those of 42 similar patients who did not. In addition to CRP levels, body fat, obesity status, and exercise capacity were determined before and after the program was implemented. Enrollment in the rehabilitation program had a number of beneficial effects, including a significant drop in body fat, an enhanced exercise capacity, and an improvement in obesity status. In the comparison group, by contrast, no beneficial effects were seen. Rehab patients experienced a 36 percent drop in their average CRP level, the authors observe. Moreover, the CRP reduction achieved was not influenced by whether the patient had lost weight or was receiving cholesterol-lowering drugs. No significant change in CRP levels was seen in the comparison group. Milani’s team concludes that “in addition to receiving appropriate (drug therapy), patients…should be routinely referred to cardiac rehabilitation and exercise training.” (Source: Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Reuters Health News: April 2004.)