Overview
The goal of this study is to determine what happens to the heart muscle contraction when people cycle before their hemodialysis treatment. Will pre-dialysis exercise protect the heart from a decrease in pumping of the heart muscle (called stunning) that can happen during hemodialysis. We will study whether pre-dialysis exercise decreases heart stunning, decreases the number and severity of symptoms commonly associated with hemodialysis, and other outcomes
Description
This will be the first randomized crossover-controlled trial with two experimental conditions assessing the impact of exercise preconditioning in the HD population. If proven effective exercise preconditioning could be developed as a therapeutic option to reduce rates of heart failure in the dialysis population.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- must be on chronic hemodialysis for at least 3 months
- age 18 years or older
- willing and able to provide informed consent
- assessed to be safe and able to exercise by unit HD Nephrologist
Exclusion Criteria:
- regular vigorous exercise outside of hemodialysis
- over 79 years of age
- intradialytic exercise < 3 months
- poor echogenicity
- acute coronary syndrome in the past 3 months
- unstable arrhythmia/angina
- shortness of breath at rest or with minimal activity
- symptomatic hypoglycemia (>2x/week in the week prior to enrolment)