Strauss for the heart

Posted at 12:01 PM on November 15, 2006 by John Zech
Filed under: The blog

If "Dancing With the Stars" (and Mario's dimples) haven't inspired you to start taking ballroom dance lessons, perhaps this news will have you and your partner getting your "two hearts in three-quarter time:"

CHICAGO (AP) - Researchers in Italy say heart patients can waltz
their way to better health.
The dance was found to be just as effective as bicycling or
treadmill-running in rehabilitating those suffering from cardiac
problems.
Doctors presented the findings at a Chicago meeting of the
American Heart Association. In the study, patients who waltzed for
exercise saw the same improvements in their cardiac system as
patients who used cycles and treadmills.
Researchers say they were looking for a different way to get
heart patients moving because up to 70 percent drop out of
traditional exercise programs designed to help them get better.
Doctors believe waltzing holds the patients' interest because
it's fun, and making it a more effective form of exercise.