电子产品规格表:心脏衰竭治疗不可忽视双腿乏力

在一项重要的新研究中，科研人员说医生不应该只治疗慢性心脏衰竭患者的心肌，还应该通过锻炼来治疗他们的腿部肌肉。

Heart failure causes breathlessness and fatigue that severely limits normal daily activities such as walking. The University of Leeds research team has, for the first time, shown that leg muscle dysfunction is related to the severity of symptoms in heart failure patients. These findings suggest that daily activity in patients with severe heart failure may not simply be limited by the failing heart, but also by an impairment in the leg muscles themselves.

心脏衰竭引起呼吸困难和疲劳，严重影响行走等正常的日常活动。英国利兹大学的研究团队首次发现腿部肌肉功能障碍与心脏衰竭患者病症严重程度之间的相关关系。这些发现说明，严重心脏衰竭患者的日常活动不仅仅是简单地受到心脏衰竭的限制，还受到腿部肌肉自身损伤的限制。

In a series of experiments with chronic heart failure patients, the research team measured responses of the heart, lungs and leg muscles following a moderate exercise warm-up. Using a near-infrared laser to measure the oxygenation of the leg muscles, they found that warm-up exercise increased the activity of skeletal muscle enzymes that control energy production. However, this adaptation was less in patients with the most severe symptoms, showing that the heart failure condition had a negative impact on the normal function of the leg muscles.

在对慢性心脏衰竭患者进行的一系列试验中，研究团队测定了适度热身运动后心脏、肺和腿部肌肉的反应。他们通过采用近红外激光器对腿部肌肉的氧化作用进行测定后发现，热身运动提高了控制能量产生的骨骼肌酶类的活性。然而，这种适应性在病症最严重的患者中最小，说明心脏衰竭情况对腿部肌肉的正常功能有负面影响。

Dr Harry Rossiter, of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences says: "Many chronic heart failure patients complain of leg fatigue during exercise and this can prevent them from being active. Our study shows that by warming up properly, patients can improve the oxygenation and performance of their leg muscles, which is beneficial in promoting exercise tolerance."

利兹大学生物科学系的Harry Rossiter博士说：“很多慢性心脏衰竭患者在运动过程中抱怨双腿乏力，这妨碍他们积极锻炼。我们的研究表明通过恰当的热身，患者可以提高他们腿部肌肉的氧化作用和表现，有助于提高锻炼耐力。”

"When your muscles don't use oxygen well, it causes an uncomfortable burning sensation during activity," says Dr Klaus Witte, the Leeds General Infirmary Cardiologist on the research team. "The effect of a warm up is to direct oxygen to the places that are going to need it, and make the muscles ready to use it when you start exercising."

“如果你的肌肉不能充分利用氧气就会在活动过程中引起不适的灼热感，”利兹市总医院心脏病学家Klaus Witte博士说。“热身的作用是把氧气引导到需要它的地方去，那样当你开始运动的时候肌肉就能够使用它。”

Dr Rossiter says the next stage of this research will be to see whether training of the skeletal muscles can improve long-term overall outcomes for patients with chronic heart failure, and to discover more about the pathological changes in the leg muscles that may be a contributing factor in limiting exercise.

Rossiter博士说下一步将要研究对骨骼肌的训练是否能够提高慢性心脏衰竭患者的长期总体表现，以及对更多腿部肌肉病变（可能是限制运动的一个影响因素）作进一步的认识。

"Our main message is that exercise is safe and beneficial in patients with heart failure. By warming up the leg muscles properly, the exercise can be more comfortable and sustained for longer -- affording great benefits for these patients," he says.

“我们主要想传达的是运动对于心脏衰竭患者来说是安全和有益的。通过适当地给腿部肌肉热身，运动可以更加舒服持久，从而为这些患者提供更大的益处，”他说。