In a recent study published in the International Journal of Cardiology1, researchers at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan used exercise stress testing to evaluate the effects that aerobic interval training (AIT) would have in aiding respiratory and cardiopulmonary efficiency on patients with heart failure syndrome. The researchers attempted to prove that AIT would aid in ventilatory efficiency and assist with the distribution of blood flow from the heart, more so than moderate continuous training (MCT).
In the study, patients were asked to walk or run on a treadmill until a target exercise level was reached while blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured with the SunTech Medical Tango+ cardiac stress BP monitor. Tango+ is able to reliably collect these parameters despite the noise and motion artifact present in such exercise / stress test conditions and successfully guided the intensity of exercise for each individual patient. With the help of the Tango+ BP monitor, the researchers were able to determine that AIT is, in fact, a better aid to improving a patient’s oxygen uptake efficiency and helps suppress oxidative stress often associated with cardiac dysfunction.
1. Tieh-cheng Fu, Chao-Hung Wang, Pay-Shin Lin, Chih-Chin Hsu, Wen-Jin Cherng, Shu-Chun Huang, Min-Hui Liu, Cheng-Lin Chiang, Jong-Shyan Wang: et al., International Journal of Cardiology (2011), "Aerobic interval training improves oxygen uptake efficiency by enhancing cerebral and muscular hemodynamics in patients with heart failure"