EMBARGOED
FOR RELEASE UNTIL 12:01 AM EDT
MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008
Contact: Donna Krupa
Newsroom: (619) 525-6202
Office: (301) 634-7209
Cell: (703) 967-2751
dkrupa@the-aps.org
Exercise During Pregnancy
Leads To A Healthier Heart In Moms- And Babies-To-Be
New study
shows exercise-exposed fetuses have improved cardiovascular activity
throughout development
SAN DIEGO, CA – Studies have shown that exercise
has a positive effect on mothers-to-be, and no detrimental impact on their
developing offspring. A new study further extends the knowledge of research
in this area and has found that not only do women benefit from exercise in
pregnancy, but their fetuses do too.
These findings are contained in a new study entitled,
Effects of Maternal Exercise on the Fetal Heart. It was conducted by
Linda E. May of the Department of Anatomy, Kansas City University of
Medicine and Biosciences (KCUMB), Kansas City, MO; Kathleen F. Gustafson,
Anda Popescu and Mihai Popescu of the Hoglund Brain Imaging Center, KUMC,
Kansas City, KS; and William B. Drake, Department of Pediatric Cardiology,
Children’s Mercy Hospital/UMKC School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO. Dr. May
will present her team’s findings at the 121st annual meeting of
the American Physiological Society (APS;
www.the-APS.org/press), part of the Experimental Biology 2008 scientific
conference. Research support was provided by HBIC pilot Funds and KCUMB
intramural grants.
The Study
The researchers hypothesized that maternal exercise
during pregnancy can have a beneficial effect on fetal cardiac programming
by reducing fetal heart rate and increasing heart rate variability. As a
result, a key component of the research involved magnetocardiography (MCG),
the magnetic correlate of an electrocardiogram (ECG). MCG is a safe,
non-invasive method to record the magnetic field surrounding the electrical
currents generated by the fetal heart and nervous system. In addition to
measures of heart rate and variability, the MCG allows for the study of the
cardiac waveforms to measure of cardiac time intervals.
For the study, fetal recordings were obtained from 24
weeks to term. Maternal and fetal events were recorded in real time. Fetal
movements such as breathing, body and mouth movements were recorded using
the MCG in order to determine fetal state and to track heart rate
accelerations. The recordings were done at four-week intervals. The data
were derived from fetal MCG conducted in the second and third trimesters of
pregnancy and in the postnatal period. The data captured was used to measure
fetal heart rate (HR) as derived from the fetal MCG recordings.
Ten women participated in the study. Each was
classified as either an exerciser (n=5) or control (n=5). The women were
grouped according to the frequency, intensity, and length of physical
activity they engaged in (i.e., moderate-to-heavy intensity aerobic activity
for 30 minutes per session three times per week or the metabolic
equivalent).
Findings
The researchers found:
there were significantly lower heart rates among fetuses that
had been exposed to maternal exercise. The heart rates among non-exposed
fetuses were higher, regardless of the fetal activity or the gestational
age.
at each stage of gestation the differences between the fetal
heart rates of the two groups were statistically significant (p<0.05 using a
t-test with equal variances).
the analysis of short- and long-term heart variability at 28,
32 and 36 weeks of gestation in exercise-exposed vs. non-exercise-exposed
fetuses were statistically different at 32 wks. This trend is still seen at
36 wks, however it is not significant.
Conclusions
According to Dr. May, “This study suggests that a
mother who exercises may not only be imparting health benefits to her own
heart, but to her developing baby’s heart as well. As a result of this pilot
study, we plan to continue the study to include more pregnant women.”
*****
Physiology
is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create
health or disease. The American Physiological Society (APS;
www.The-APS.org/press) has been an integral part of this discovery
process since it was established in 1887.
# # #
NOTE TO EDITORS: The APS annual meeting is part
of the Experimental Biology 2008 (EB ’08) gathering and will be held April
5-9, 2008 at the San Diego, CA Convention Center. To schedule an interview
with Dr. May, please contact Donna Krupa at 301.634.7209 (office),
703.967.2751 (cell) or
DKrupa@the-APS.org.
|
