Protocol Number: 08-CC-0133 ![]()
Healthy volunteers and people with pulmonary hypertension between 21 and 75 years of age may be eligible for this study. All participants undergo the following tests and procedures: -Medical history and physical examination -6-minute walk test: Subjects walk as fast as they can for 6 minutes on a walking track to determine their ability to participate in physical activity. -Questionnaires: Subjects complete nine questionnaires related to their fatigue, daily physical activity, mood, and so forth. -6-minute treadmill test: Subjects are fitted with a mask, electrodes and light sensors while walking on a treadmill at the speed they walked during the 6-minute walk test. This procedure allows measurement of how much oxygen the body is using and how well the muscles use oxygen. -Maximum treadmill test: The exercise begins at an easy level and gradually increases until the subject says he or she can no longer continue or the investigator decides it is not safe to continue. Subjects are fitted with a mask, electrodes and light sensors to measure how well the heart is working and how well the muscles use oxygen. Patients with pulmonary hypertension undergo the following additional procedures: -Activity monitoring: Patients wear a monitor for 3 days that measures movement and heart rate. -Group assignment: Patients are randomly assigned to Group 1 (education plus aerobic exercise) or Group 2 (education followed by exercise). -Group 1 patients participate in a 1-hour educational class at the INOVA Fairfax Hospital Pulmonary Rehabilitation Center three times a week for 10 weeks to learn about a healthy lifestyle with pulmonary hypertension. At each visit, subjects walk vigorously for 30-45 minutes on a track or treadmill. After the 10 weeks of education and exercise, subjects repeat the 6-minute walk test, 6-minute treadmill test, maximum treadmill test and questionnaires. -Group 2 patients participate in a 1-hour educational class at the INOVA Pulmonary Rehabilitation Center three times a week for 10 weeks. After the classes, they repeat the 6-minute walk test, 6-minute treadmill test, maximum treadmill test and questionnaires. Then they come to INOVA to exercise for 1 hour 3 days a week for 10 weeks, after which they again repeat the questionnaires, treadmill and walk tests.
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