Home-based walking program for people with low blood circulation in the legs is said to be more effective when compared to hospital-based interventions.
The National Institutes of Health suggests that around 8 to 12 million people in the U.S. who are over 50 years suffer from peripheral artery disease (PAD). The figure indicates that one in every 20 American suffers from PAD, which is a condition that narrows down the arteries resulting in poor blood circulation, especially in the legs.
A person with PAD is also at significant risk of getting a stroke or a heart attack.
A new study by researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, reveals the long-term benefits of home-based walking programs. The study encourages people with clogged leg arteries to walk faster as well as farther.
African Americans are more likely to get the disease when compared to whites. Smokers, people suffering from diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol are also at a higher risk of developing PAD.
"I was somewhat surprised that we achieved our results of a continued difference between the intervention and control groups because it is very difficult to get patients to adhere to an exercise program long term even when it is supervised, and our program was unsupervised, " says Dr. Mary McDermott, who led the research.
Study authors indicate that currently only a few treatments for PAD are available, which include implanting stents in the blocked arteries and exercise. Prior research work shows that walking on treadmills can increase the blood flow in the arteries, which can help PAD patients improve their endurance level. However, prior studies reveal that patients go to the hospital or a clinic to exercise.
McDermott and her team wanted to analyze if home-based program can motivate people to exercise without the need of traveling to a hospital.
Robert Patterson, who is a physician and also a clinical researcher at the Brown University, says that exercise is normally considered as a very conservative approach to manage PAD. However, doctors should advice PAD patients to exercise in the first instance.
"I ask my patients to set aside 40 minutes every day to walk. When they first start I tell them they might walk 15 minutes and rest 25 minutes. After six or 12 weeks, they might be walking for 25 minutes and resting for only 15, the effects (of walking) can be dramatic," says Patterson.
If the home-based walking program is promoted for PAD patients it may reduce the cost for healthcare systems and also reduce the complications associated with stents implantation.
