If the Heart is a Muscle, then We Should Treat it Like a Muscle

   If the heart is a muscle, then, medically, we should treat it like a muscle. I wonder how much good could be done if we treated heart failure with this in mind. Muscles need exercised, pure and simple. If a muscle is weak, I don't know that it will ever be strong unless it is exercised.
   Current medical practice is to lay a person down when their heart gets too weak, put them on their back and treat them with medication. Let them rest, let them rest.
   Maybe we should, let them work, let them work.
   I suppose there are times you shouldn't. When you tear a muscle, you have to let it recover. You do get off it. So it might be the same with a heart. If it is torn or inflamed, let it rest. But, if it is just weak, exercise might be just what the doctor ordered -- or what he should have ordered.
   So, work the heart, not hard, but hard enough to make a difference. Strap them to a self-powered stationary bicycle so they can't fall off, and let it work them a little. Then, place them in a structure that holds them up and in place as a treadmill below them puts them through a walk. These things are better than having them peddle on their own, or walk with a walker on their own, because they do not have to expend energy balancing and holding themselves up. They get more of a cardiovascular workout because they then are able to go faster.
   I know, because I run on a treadmill partially in the same fashion. I had a hip replaced years ago, and it left me unable to run much at all outside. I don't know if it is the pounding the hip takes or what, but I can't go much faster than a walk.
    But, if I get on the treadmill, I can put my hands on the bars on each side and lift my weight just enough that I can run -- fast, 10 mph for minutes and minutes, sometimes for three miles. By the time I've finished, I'm dripping in sweat -- and that means I've gotten a good cardiovascular workout.
    I don't know how much exercise will be the right amount -- how much will be necessary to revive a heart -- but I can see it will make a difference. As I suggested at the top of this blog, the heart is a muscle, and I don't know if a muscle has ever become strong without exercise. Maybe creatine and steroids injections will help -- I don't know -- but I know exercise will.