If you have heart failure, be as active as you can and start an exercise program.

Important steps: A brisk walk can help heart failure patients get better.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—More intense exercise can actually improve the condition of someone suffering from heart failure, a chronic and usually incurable condition in which the heart muscle gets progressively weaker. The new research was unveiled recently at the American College of Cardiology’s 58th Annual Scientific Session in Orlando, FL.

THE DETAILS: This new research stems from the larger HF-ACTION (Heart Failure and A Controlled Trial Investing Outcomes of exercise traiNing) study. Researchers found that patients who walked 2 miles per hour for 25 minutes 2 days a week lowered their risk of hospitalization or of dying by 10 percent, but those who walked at 2.5 mph for 25 minutes 5 days a week lowered their risk by 25 percent. “This study shows that while a little exercise is good for health failure patients, a little more looks to be even better,” says Steven Keteyian, PhD, the study’s lead author and program director of Preventive Cardiology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

WHAT IT MEANS: The term heart failure sounds awfully scary, but the truth is, you can live a full life despite this condition, as long as you seek the right medical care and make smart lifestyle choices. This and other studies show that exercise is a key strategy.

Here are some ways to manage heart failure: