{"id":119562,"date":"2025-09-04T14:58:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T14:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/119562\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T14:58:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T14:58:08","slug":"can-cycling-mend-a-broken-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/119562\/","title":{"rendered":"Can cycling mend a broken heart?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cycling, along with other endurance exercise, might do more than lift your mood after heartbreak\u2014it could actually help repair the damage grief leaves on the heart<\/a>. A new study from Scotland found that patients with \u201cbroken heart syndrome,\u201d a condition triggered by extreme stress, improved heart function and fitness after a 12-week supervised program that included stationary and road cycling.<\/p>\n

As reported by The Telegraph<\/a>, here\u2019s what you need to know: exercise may offer one of the first real ways to recover from a condition long thought to have no lasting treatment.<\/p>\n

What is broken heart syndrome?<\/p>\n

Officially called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, the condition is often brought on by severe emotional distress such as the death of a loved one. It mimics the symptoms of a heart attack, including chest pain and shortness of breath, but stems from a sudden weakening of the heart muscle. Around 5,000 people are diagnosed each year in the U.K., though experts believe many more cases go unreported. Public cases have highlighted its impact\u2014actress Debbie Reynolds died a day after her daughter Carrie Fisher, and musician Johnny Cash\u2019s health deteriorated following the loss of his wife, June.<\/p>\n

The study<\/p>\n

The trial, conducted by the University of Aberdeen, followed 76 patients who had been diagnosed with the syndrome. Participants were split into three groups: one received standard care, another took part in cognitive behavioural therapy, and a third joined a 12-week exercise program. The training included cycling sessions, aerobics, swimming, and other endurance exercises, with intensity gradually increasing each week. Both the exercise and therapy groups showed significant gains in heart function, while the standard-care group saw little change.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The improvements were not just small upticks. Patients in the exercise program increased their cycling distance and VO\u2082 max, a key measure of cardiovascular fitness. Imaging tests also showed better heart metabolism\u2014how the heart produces and uses energy. Researchers highlighted that long-term outcomes still need to be tracked, but the results suggest that structured cycling and endurance exercise could be a safe, practical way to support recovery after grief-induced heart damage.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/p>\n

Dr. David Gamble, who presented the findings at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Madrid, emphasized the link between the brain and heart. \u201cIn Takotsubo syndrome, there are serious effects on the heart, which may not return to normal,\u201d he said, explaining that both exercise and therapy could help patients improve long-term health. For cyclists, it\u2019s another reminder that the act of pedaling reaches far beyond training. Cycling can steady the mind in tough times, and as this research suggests, it may even give the heart a chance to mend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cycling, along with other endurance exercise, might do more than lift your mood after heartbreak\u2014it could actually help…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-119562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}