Peripheral artery disease patients benefit if they push through discomfort when walking
Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) can see considerable benefits if they exercise at a pace that causes discomfort, or even a little pain, in their legs. That takeaway comes from a new analysis published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.[1]
The study’s authors reviewed data from more than 250 PAD patients who were already participating in a separate clinical trial. The average age was 69 years old, and 52% of patients were men. All patients were enrolled from September 2015 to December 2019 at one of four U.S. facilities.
The participants were separated into three groups, with 41% walking as exercise at a pace that induced leg symptoms such as discomfort of pain, 38% walking as exercise at a more comfortable pace and 21% not walking for exercise at all. Anytime a participant walked for exercise, they wore a monitor that tracked the intensity of their movements.
All participants had their leg function evaluated at the start of the study, after six months and after 12 months. This test consisted of a battery of three different tests.
Overall, after six months, participants who walked at a pace that induced discomfort or pain made gains in their walking speed unseen in the other groups. After 12 months, however, the increase in walking speed was no longer significant.
On the other hand, after 12 months, participants who walked at a pace that induced discomfort or pain did perform better overall in the battery of leg function tests than the other participants.
“We were surprised by the results because walking for exercise at a pace that induces pain in the legs among people with PAD has been thought to be associated with damage to leg muscles,” senior author Mary M. McDermott, MD, the Jeremiah Stamler Professor of Medicine in the division of general internal medicine and geriatric medicine and of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “Based on these results, clinicians should advise patients to walk for exercise at a pace that induces leg discomfort, instead of at a comfortable pace without pain.”
McDermott added that these findings are reminiscent of the “no pain, no gain” point of view, emphasizing that exercising in this way is “beneficial, though difficult” for PAD patients.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.