Aortic valve regurgitation

kingrollo

Got a reply from consultant

" a moderate aortic valve leak should not have any impact on his exercise so he can continue to cycle and go to the gym as normal. However, I would advise that he goes easy on the weights (not too heavy) and also to be sensible and to ‘listen to his body’ (and to back off a little if he experiences negative sensations whilst exercising).’"

All good then !

slowbike

kingrollo wrote:

Got a reply from consultant

" a moderate aortic valve leak should not have any impact on his exercise so he can continue to cycle and go to the gym as normal. However, I would advise that he goes easy on the weights (not too heavy) and also to be sensible and to ‘listen to his body’ (and to back off a little if he experiences negative sensations whilst exercising).’"

All good then !

Excellent

If they thought it was life threatening I'm sure you'd not have time to have posted on here before going in.
I've been to the docs for something "different" going on with my heart - got a few tests lined up - but, having been checked out by the GP and with a resting HR of 39 I've been told I can carry on riding - just keep closer eye on the symptoms and stop if they get worse.
I've just backed off for the last coupe of weeks - not the distance, just the intensity.

imposter2.0

That's a good outcome. Pity that some of that additional info wasn't included in the original letter though...

kingrollo

Imposter wrote:

That's a good outcome. Pity that some of that additional info wasn't included in the original letter though...

Cost saving I suppose - if I sat with the consultant for a chat for 30 mins that costs £250.
NHS is still good - but you do have to look after yourself a bit - I suffer a little with anxiety and depression - but even so I think that doing some research yourself isn't a bad thing.

My wife has MS and has the opposite approach - just gets on with things as normal if she gets sick, she gets sick - wouldn't be my approach but horses for courses I suppose.

Neil Grubb

Your cardiologist will, when you attend the clinic, give specific advice but I think the initial reassurance given is because of the following : in general leaky or regurgitant valves aren't a significant problem for endurance exercise compared with narrow valves. Your aortic valve is the main outlet valve from the left side of the heart (the side that delivers blood to everything except your lungs). If you have a valve leak, after each heartbeat most of the blood in your arteries still goes forward through the circulation but some falls back into the heart. When you cycle, your 'peripheral resistance' drops because the circulation opens up in your muscle beds. So the leak actually gets less, proportionately, when you exercise. The exception is very high resistance exercise such as heavy free weights, where resistance goes up.

I am a consultant cardiologist and see patients with mild or moderate valve leaks quite often. The thing most folk worry about is the risk of damaging the heart and cycling isn't going to do that. Most patients with mild or moderate aortic valve leaks are monitored annually for years with little or no change in their valves.

slowbike

Neil Grubb wrote:

I am a consultant cardiologist

so you don't know anything then ... really ...


/*Yes that was completely tongue in cheek and thank you for providing a bit more info about the subject! */

kingrollo

Neil Grubb wrote:

Your cardiologist will, when you attend the clinic, give specific advice but I think the initial reassurance given is because of the following : in general leaky or regurgitant valves aren't a significant problem for endurance exercise compared with narrow valves. Your aortic valve is the main outlet valve from the left side of the heart (the side that delivers blood to everything except your lungs). If you have a valve leak, after each heartbeat most of the blood in your arteries still goes forward through the circulation but some falls back into the heart. When you cycle, your 'peripheral resistance' drops because the circulation opens up in your muscle beds. So the leak actually gets less, proportionately, when you exercise. The exception is very high resistance exercise such as heavy free weights, where resistance goes up.

I am a consultant cardiologist and see patients with mild or moderate valve leaks quite often. The thing most folk worry about is the risk of damaging the heart and cycling isn't going to do that. Most patients with mild or moderate aortic valve leaks are monitored annually for years with little or no change in their valves.

Wow - so it is worth posting on forums after all. Many thanks for that.

Just out of curiosity isn't grinding very slowly up a 20% hill the same as doing as hefty squat or bench press ?

Neil Grubb

kingrollo wrote:

Neil Grubb wrote:

Your cardiologist will, when you attend the clinic, give specific advice but I think the initial reassurance given is because of the following : in general leaky or regurgitant valves aren't a significant problem for endurance exercise compared with narrow valves. Your aortic valve is the main outlet valve from the left side of the heart (the side that delivers blood to everything except your lungs). If you have a valve leak, after each heartbeat most of the blood in your arteries still goes forward through the circulation but some falls back into the heart. When you cycle, your 'peripheral resistance' drops because the circulation opens up in your muscle beds. So the leak actually gets less, proportionately, when you exercise. The exception is very high resistance exercise such as heavy free weights, where resistance goes up.

I am a consultant cardiologist and see patients with mild or moderate valve leaks quite often. The thing most folk worry about is the risk of damaging the heart and cycling isn't going to do that. Most patients with mild or moderate aortic valve leaks are monitored annually for years with little or no change in their valves.

Wow - so it is worth posting on forums after all. Many thanks for that.

Just out of curiosity isn't grinding very slowly up a 20% hill the same as doing as hefty squat or bench press ?

Certainly the resistance to blood flow will be higher because of the force of contraction in major muscle groups; I don't know if it's the same and I think it depends how you do it. If you're up out of the saddle, tense and breathing in a way that increases chest pressure with each pedal stroke then yes, this could be similar. Therefore someone with aortic regurgitation is likely to struggle with this kind of effort more than most. It won't cause damage to the heart however. I think what is important is what a typical bike session is like - a good aerobic session with some harder hill efforts is fine but regular very high effort (I.e. 20% gradient) type work is likely to cause counterproductive fatigue.

StillGoing

kingrollo wrote:

Got a reply from consultant

" a moderate aortic valve leak should not have any impact on his exercise so he can continue to cycle and go to the gym as normal. However, I would advise that he goes easy on the weights (not too heavy) and also to be sensible and to ‘listen to his body’ (and to back off a little if he experiences negative sensations whilst exercising).’"

All good then !

Virtually word for word advice that I got. Exercise as much as I like, but avoid anything where you feel the strain in the head such as lifting heavy weights, exercising to exhaustion or as he put it, straining with constipation.

bendertherobot

That de-escalated quickly......

OP, I have this apparently, perhaps not as serious as I've been diarised to be seen in 2 years time. It got caught when I had my afib episode (which has not returned) and the cardiologist wasn't remotely concerned by it.