[Prolonged intensive training as a method of nondrug therapy and rehabilitation of patients who have had a myocardial infarct]. / Dlitel'nye intensivnye trenirovki kak metod nemedikamentoznoi terapii i reabilitatsii bol'nykh, perenesshikh infarkt miokarda.

The authors examined 75 males (average age 49 years) who had suffered myocardial infarction 4--8 months before the examination. Two groups equal in value, the main and control groups, were formed at random. Patients of the main group were given physical training for one year, including therapeutical physical exercises combined with dosaged running, elements of sport games and training on a bicycle ergometer. The examination showed that long-term intense training is a very effective non-drug measure aimed at improving the physical working capacity of patients after myocardial infarction.

[Effect of physical training on the function of the left ventricle in postinfarct cardiosclerosis]. / Vliianie fizicheskikh trenirovok na funktsiiu levogo zheludochka serdtsa u bol'nykh postinfarktnym kardiosklerozom.

The indices of the function of the left ventricle of the heart determined by ultrasonic scanning with an apparatus of the Unirad firm were compared in two groups of patients with a myocardial infarction history of no longer than 12 months. Both groups were divided into two subgroups according to the initial physical load tolerance. The patients of one group were trained physically 3 times a week for one year, the patients of the other group were controls. A dependence between the indices of left-ventricular function in both groups and the initial tolerance to physical load was disclosed. A preliminary conclusion was made that physical training produces a beneficial effect and that the initial tolerance to physical load is an important criterion.

[Evaluation of the quality of life of cardiovascular disease patients]. / Otsenka kachestva zhizni bol'nykh s serdechno-sosudistymi zabolevaniiami.

A questionnaire was prepared for the evaluation of the quality of life directed at assessment of the patient's attitude to changes that had taken place in his life due to his illness. Results of observations of 124 patients (94 with myocardial infarction and 30 with arterial hypertension) show the validity of the questionnaire and its discriminant possibility. Difference in the indices of quality of life has been established between the infarction and the hypertensive patients. In persons who retained working capacity and in patients used to physical exercise the overall index of quality of life was higher than invalids or patients who were not used to physical training. In persons with low overall index of quality of life MMPI, according to 1, 2, 7 and 8 scales, were statistically significantly higher than in persons with high overall index of quality of life. The method permits one not only to give a quantitative assessment of the quality of life as a whole, but also to take into consideration concrete reasons for its deterioration.

[Comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of various physical training methods with patients who have had a myocardial infarct]. / Sravnitel'naia otsenka éffektivnosti razlichnykh metodov fizicheskikh trenirovok bol'nykh, perenesshikh infarkt miokarda.

A total of 180 men were examined 4 months after myocardial infarction. The patients of the main group were randomised into subgroups according to the nature of physical training (PT). B2 subgroup did in-door therapy exercises with elements of games; B3 subgroup was assigned the same exercises, but received 5,2 mg of nitrong 1 hour prior to PT; B4 subgroup practiced bicycle ergometry with stable load comprising 50% of individual exercise tolerance. In B5 subgroup the stable load was 75% and in B6 subgroup the load was gradually increased (50-75-90% of individual exercise tolerance). All the patients participating in PT showed a considerable increase of the main indices of physical capacity (threshold power, maximal oxygen consumption, double product), which was accompanied by an improvement of their state and functional class. PT with pre-exercise nitrong, and bicycle ergometry with the load constituting 50% of the individual threshold power yielded the best results.