Wellness
Exercises to support stronger hips
Strengthening and protecting the hips can help aging men and women reduce their risk of
one day needing hip replacement surgery.
ot that long ago, if you
had a faulty heart valve
or a heart attack, you
would probably have been
admitted to a hospital for
open-heart surgery, hospitalized
for weeks, and had a
long recovery. Today, treatment
options for those same
heart conditions are much
less invasive with much
shorter recovery times.
Cardiovascular specialists
can now treat heart attacks,
replace heart valves,
and repair cardiac defects
using catheters passed
through small incisions
and guided through arteries
to the site of the problem.
“Many procedures that required
opening the chest a
few decades ago are now being
performed using catheters,”
says Terrence Sacchi,
M.D., chief of cardiology
at NewYork-Presbyterian
Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
“Doctors use catheters
to accomplish goals that
range from the basic—like
identifying problematic arterial
narrowing using coronary
angiography—to the
complex, such as transcatheter
aortic valve replacement
(TAVR).
One of the most common
catheter-based cardiology
procedures is angioplasty.
Angioplasty is used on an
emergency basis to stop a
heart attack in progress or
scheduled as an elective procedure
to eliminate chest
pain. During angioplasty, an
interventional cardiologist
passes a balloon-tipped catheter
through a blood vessel
in the groin to reach the
blocked artery and reopen
it, pushing plaque against
the vessel wall by inflating
the balloon. In most cases, a
stent—a metal mesh tube—
may be placed in the artery
as a structural element to
hold the vessel open. “We offer
some of the most complex
blood flow-restoration procedures
COURIER L 32 IFE, APRIL 19–25, 2019 PS
being performed in
the metropolitan area—or
the world, for that matter,”
says Sorin Brener, M.D., director
of the cardiac catheterization
laboratory at NYP
Brooklyn Methodist. “These
include reopening arteries
that are completely blocked
and stenting of the left main
coronary artery, the most
strategically important
blood vessel in the body.”
TAVR provides a permanent
solution when the aortic
valve, which allows blood
from the left ventricle to flow
to the rest of the body and
then shuts to prevent blood
from streaming back into the
heart, deteriorates with age.
This damage narrows the
valve opening—a condition
called aortic valve stenosis.
The condition causes several
distressing symptoms, including
chest pain and fainting,
and makes it difficult
to walk, perform household
chores or enjoy hobbies.
Individuals with agerelated
aortic stenosis are
typically older than 70, and
for those with other chronic
medical problems, openheart
surgery is not ideal.
Nevertheless, major surgery
used to be the only option
those patients had—
until the development of
TAVR. “Open-heart surgery
is an excellent procedure,
but for aortic stenosis patients
with multiple comorbidities,
recovery often is
tricky and lengthy,” says Dr.
Brener. “Being able to perform
essentially the same
procedure with—in some
cases—better results, has
been truly revolutionary.
TAVR patients have shorter
hospital stays and minimal
recovery times compared
to patients who undergo
open heart procedures.” Extensive
evaluation prior to
transcatheter aortic valve
replacement ensures that
the TAVR team—which includes
cardiac surgeons,
cardiologists, cardiac anesthesiologists
and echocardiographers—
can determine
whether the procedure
is appropriate for individual
patients. In most cases, the
interventional cardiologist
punctures the skin in the
groin and passes a catheter
through a small balloon
to enlarge the valve opening,
the surgeon places the
prosthetic valve—a stent,
or small cylinder, with folds
of bovine tissue attached to
it—to mimic a heart valve’s
natural flaps. “About 80 percent
of our patients improve
dramatically with respect to
symptoms,” Dr. Brener says.
“Before having TAVR, they
couldn’t leave their homes
and could barely care for
themselves. After the procedure,
they’re able to handle
all but very strenuous activities.
The goal of TAVR isn’t
to add years to life but to add
life to years.”
Surgery is not an inevitable side
effect of aging. In fact, men
and women over 50 can employ
various preventive techniques to
strengthen their bones and joints in
the hopes of avoiding the surgical
wing of their local hospitals.
According to AARP, more than
370,000 men and women undergo hip
replacement surgeries in the United
States each year. Some may think
such surgeries are a fi nal solution
to their hip pain, but that might not
be the case, as AARP notes than one
in 10 hip replacement recipients will
need a second procedure for any
number of reasons, including
infection or mechanical failure.
A proactive approach that focuses
on strengthening and protecting the
hips can help aging men and women
reduce their risk of one day needing
hip replacement surgery. The following
are a handful of exercises, courtesy
of the AARP, that can help men
and women strengthen their hips:
Good morning
Stand with your feet shoulderwidth
apart and keep your hands at
your sides. With your knees slightly
bent and your back naturally arched,
bend at your hips as if you’re bowing
out of respect as far as you can go, or
until your torso is almost parallel to
the fl oor. Return to the starting position.
During the exercise, keep your
core braced and don’t bow your back.
Hip abduction
Stand with your feet shoulderwidth
apart. Loop a resistance band
around both ankles, and then raise
your right leg out to the side as far
as you can. Hold in this position for
a moment before slowly returning
to the starting position. Switch legs
and then repeat the exercise on the
other side.
Hip adduction
Loop one end of a resistance band
low around a solid object, then stand
to the left of that object before looping
the other end of the band around your
right ankle. Place your legs shoulderwidth
apart, and then pull in your
right leg until your ankles touch.
Repeat with your left leg, this time
moving to the right side of the object.
Glute bridge
Lie on your back with your knees
bent and your feet fl at on the fl oor.
Raise your hips to form a straight line
from your shoulders to your knees,
using some type of support if you need
to. Clench your butt at the top of the
movement, pause, and lower yourself
back down.
Men and women unaccustomed to
exercise should consult their physicians
before performing any of these
exercises. In addition, if necessary,
perform the exercises under the supervision
of a personal trainer who
can advise you on proper form and
help you reduce your risk of injury.