Exercise, Heart Failure, and Type 2 Diabetes

Vascular and Metabolic Responses to Exercise Training in Heart Failure With or Without Type 2 Diabetes

The purpose of this study is to understand the differences in how patients with heart failure respond to exercise training compared to patients with heart failure and type 2 diabetes.

The investigators will measure exercise capacity in patients with heart failure or heart failure plus type 2 diabetes prior to and following a 12-week exercise training program (5d/wk, 30 min/d, 60-75% VO2max) to determine whether improvements in exercise capacity in response to exercise training are mitigated in patients with combined heart failure plus type 2 diabetes.

Inclusion Criteria:

• ≥50 yr of age
• New York Heart Association class II-III CHF and ejection fraction ≤35%
• receiving optimal medical therapy
• sedentary (≤ 30 min/wk structured physical activity).
• Half of volunteers (n=30) will have a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (CHF+T2D).

Exclusion Criteria:

• smoking
• changes in medication ≤6 wk prior to enrollment
• major cardiovascular event or procedure ≤6 wk prior to enrollment
• foot ulcers
• advanced neuropathy
• co-morbidities or other limitations that may interfere with or prevent volunteers from safely completing the exercise training
• fixed rate pacemaker
• type 1 diabetes mellitus