Exercise Prescription for Chagasic Cardiomyopathy Patients: a Systematic Review
Abstract
Chagas cardiomyopathy is one of the main causes of heart failure and sudden death in Latin America. Currently, it is estimated that there are 12 million Brazilians infected by Trypanosoma cruzi, and that of these, about 1.9 million will develop Chagas' cardiomyopathy. Practicing physical exercise has emerged as an adjuvant option for the treatment of Chagas disease, attenuating the effects of its progression and improving the quality of life of these patients. However, there is no consensus on an exercise protocol for chagasic patients. Thus, the purpose of this study was to propose an exercise protocol for patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy based on published studies related to this subject. This is a systematic review using the descriptors: Chagas, Chagas myocardiophaty, Chagas Heart Disease and Exercise in the databases Scielo and PubMed. A total of seven articles were selected for the preparation of this review, published between the years 2010 and 2018. The available protocols recommend that the practice of aerobic exercises at a frequency of two to three times a week, in sessions of 60 minutes of duration, at mild to moderate intensity for at least two months, is sufficient to promote benefits to the cardiac, respiratory and functionality of these individuals, positively impacting the quality of life of patients with Chagas' cardiomyopathy. Thus, the indication of exercise protocols with these characteristics can be used a low-cost non-drug therapy option in association with the classic treatment of these patients.
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