PROJECT
A new type of exercise to improve the health of patients with heart failure
Exploring the effectiveness of eccentric exercise training for patients with heart failure
Chronic heart failure (HF) is common, affecting two per cent of the population and 10 per cent of those over the age of 65.
Although impaired heart function initiates the syndrome, adverse peripheral adaptations in the skeletal muscles and vasculature are integral to the impaired functional capacity and quality of life experienced by HF patients.
Exercise training is particularly clinically relevant in HF because aerobic capacity, or cardiopulmonary fitness, is a potent independent predictor of prognosis, which guides timing and stratification for transplantation.
Exercise training is acknowledged for its efficacy in improving functional status in HF and is advocated in contemporary clinical guidelines as a Class I (level A) recommendation.
Despite acceptance in exercise science that distinct physiological adaptations are conferred by different types of training, few trials have compared the effectiveness of different forms of exercise training in HF.
The purpose of this project is to comprehensively investigate the effectiveness of eccentric exercise training (ET) in HF, a novel training paradigm which possesses several theoretical advantages over traditional approaches.
Our aim is to compare the effects of ET to those of conventional concentric training (CT) in a superiority trial, where both forms of exercise are performed at a matched cardiovascular intensity i.e. an intensity that elicits the same heart rate response.
The findings of this study will help to optimise exercise prescription in HF and directly benefit patients in terms of life expectancy and quality.
Read more about our exercise research or our cardiovascular research group.
For more background information, see the suggested readings below.
- Suggested readings
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- Maiorana A, O'Driscoll G, Dembo L, Cheetham C, Goodman C, Taylor R, et al. Effect of aerobic and resistance exercise training on vascular function in heart failure. Am J Physiol. 2000;279:H1999-H2005.
- Green DJ, Maiorana AJ, Siong JHJ, Burke V, Erickson M, Minson CT, et al. Impaired skin blood flow response to environmental heating in chronic heart failure. European Heart Journal. 2006;27(3):338-43.
- Maiorana AJ, Naylor LH, Exterkate A, Swart A, Thijssen DHJ, Lam K, et al. The impact of exercise training on conduit artery wall thickness and remodelling in chronic heart failure patients. Hypertension. 2011;57:56-62.
- Panizzolo FA, Maiorana AJ, Naylor LH, Dembo L, Lloyd DG, Green DJ, et al. Gait analysis in chronic heart failure: The calf as a locus of impaired walking capacity. J Biomech. 2014;47:3719-25.
- Panizzolo FA, Maiorana AJ, Naylor LH, Dembo L, Lloyd DG, Green DJ, et al. Reduction in voluntary active and passive human soleus muscle force is dictated by muscle size in chronic heart failure. J Appl Physiol. 2014;Submitted Oct 2014.
- Panizzolo FA, Maiorana AJ, Naylor LH, Lichtwark GA, Dembo L, Lloyd DG, et al. Is the soleus a sentinel muscle for impaired aerobic capacity in heart failure? Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014;In Press.
Research team leader: Professor Daniel John Green
I am a human integrative biologist whose research focuses on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. My specific expertise relates to novel imaging approaches to the assessment of micro and macrovascular diseases, including surrogate measures of early and occult disease.
How to apply
Interested in becoming part of this project? Complete the following steps to submit your expression of interest:
Step 1 - Check criteria
General UWA PhD entrance requirements can be found on the Future Students website.
Step 2 - Submit enquiry to research team leader
Step 3 - Lodge application
After you have discussed your project with the research team leader, you should be in a position to proceed to the next step of the UWA application process: Lodge an application. Different application procedures apply to domestic and international students.
Scholarships
- Scholarships specific to this project
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Top-up scholarships may be available for this project. Contact the research team for details.
- Domestic students
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All domestic students may apply for Research Training Program and University Postgraduate Awards (UPA) scholarships
- International students
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A range of scholarships are available from international organisations and governments. The full list, organised by country, is available on the Future Students website.
In addition, all international students may apply for International Research Training Program scholarships.
- Indigenous students
- Indigenous students are encouraged to apply for Indigenous Postgraduate Research Supplementary Scholarships.
- Prestigious postgraduate research scholarships
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Prestigious postgraduate research scholarships support graduate research training by enabling students of exceptional research promise to undertake higher degrees by research at the University.
