Does Exercising Wear Out An Artificial Heart Valve Faster?
After evaluating the pros and cons of mechanical and bioprosthetic heart valve replacements, it appears that Stephanie has opted for an artificial heart valve replacement.
Stephanie writes, “Hi Adam - Given my age, health, love for exercise and desire not to repeat open heart surgery, I believe I am going to request an artificial heart valve replacement when I have surgery next month. However, I have one lingering question for you. Does exercising wear out an artificial heart valve faster over the patient’s lifetime?”
While I do not have any clinical data for Stephanie, my gut tells me the answer to this question is probably no. I don’t think that exercise impacts (or wears out) an artificial valve for two reasons:
- First, mechanical valves are made from very, very, very, very durable materials including carbon, titanium, polyester and Teflon. While there is potential damage to all valve replacement devices, artificial valves are known to last the longest. Personally, I have spoken with many patients that have had their mechanical valve implants for over 30 years.
- Second, there are several patient success stories of athletes that have mechanical heart valves. Such patient-athletes are avid marathoners, bikers and swimmers. For example, Veronika Meyer is a mountain climbing enthusiast who recently reached the top of Mount Everest.
Again, these are anecdotes and my own personal opinion. That said, I would strongly encourage you to speak with your surgeon about this topic (exercise and artificial heart valves) to learn more.
Keep on tickin!
Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of an actual heart valve surgery patient. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Adam,
This was one of my questions. I had a tissue aortic valve replacement 7/16/07. Both my surgeon and my cardiologist recommended a tissue valve(cow) because I was a runner and a cyclist. Bike crashes and blood thinners. How would you answer the question re a tissue valve? Does exercise wear out a tissue valve sooner?
I also had a question on recovery time. Your blog from a couple weeks back. I was one of those with no symptoms. Age 64. As I said, I was a runner (marathoner in days of old) and cyclist. I was back to work in 4 weeks and stared exercise again at the same time. I felt like I was pretty much recovered by early 2008 in everything except exercise and fitness. I just haven’t been able to get back to my pre-surgery level of fitness. I run about 15 to 20 miles and ride between 85 and 125 miles per week, but much slower. My heart doesn’t adapt to load like it once did. My goal was to do the San Francisco marathon on the anniversary of my surgery, but I didn’t come close. I am really frustrated and wondered if you had any information on the recovery times of similarly situated patients to get back to pre-surgery fitness levels?
Thanks, Hal