New study uses a walk test to determine the recovery of Elderly Heart Surgery patients

A new study has defined an easy tool which can help determine the type of recovery or possible danger of death in Elderly patients who are to undergo heart surgery.

As age progresses the chance of having some sort of heart surgery becomes more common and while quite worrisome it can in some instances result in sever health problems after or even death. The study was reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology took 131 people over the age of 70 and had them take a simple walking test. The walking test was to see how long it took the patient to walk 5.5 yards. If it took longer than 6 seconds that would be considered slow, faster than 6 seconds would be considered normal.

The patients performed their walking test previous to going in to heart surgery. The results were interesting. More women and patients suffering with diabetes passed the test with a slow walking pace. People that performed the walk in the slow category were three times more likely to have health complications after the surgery and received a prolonged hospital stay. 

A most interesting aspect revealed in this study was the frailty or lack of frailty of the patients that performed a slow walking pace. Most would presume that the little, skinny, frail looking elderly women would be the ones barely able to walk but results show that the case is quite the opposite. The patients that showed the most unstable walking were those that were heavier or overweight.

The researchers hope to perform more advanced studies that will hope to determine why more women and diabetics are likely to have a slow walking pace and have an increased risk of health complications after surgery. The researchers hope to identify more variables that those more likely to encounter complications may have and provide possible solutions or preventative measures.

This is a warning for middle aged people to up their exercise game and increase their nutritional intake. Begin now to keep your heart healthy so that when faced with challenges you will be the one walking away from the heart surgery.