Exercise helps people recover after a heart attack but the benefits vanish when the workouts stop, Swiss researchers announced on Monday 16th March 2009.

After four weeks of exercise blood vessel function improved among people who exercised, but the Swiss findings published in the journal Circulationsuggest that long-term and continuing physical activity is key to preventing another heart attack.

Heart attack survivers

The Swiss research team looked at 209 people who had survived a heart attack to assess the effects of different types of exercise and what happened when people stopped regular physical activity.

The 209 volunteers were split into 4 groups, one group to receive training in aerobic exercise, one resistance workouts to build strength, one group a combination of the two, and the latter group no exercise at all.

Four weeks of exercise

After four weeks, blood vessel function in the three exercise groups improved regardless of the type of exercise, the researchers said. There were no improvements among the men and women who did not work out.

The Swiss research team also asked some people in the exercise groups to stop physical activity. They found that after only one month all the positive benefits of working out had vanished.

"This aspect is particularly important in patients with coronary heart disease," Margherita Vona of the Clinique Valmont-Genolier in Montreux, who led the study, said in a statement.