= Full article availableYou may not think of house-hold chores as a workout. But particular cleaning jobs elicit bodily responses that are similar to those of exercise, such as increased heart rate, respiration, and perspiration. Vacuuming is one of those household activities that can definitely cause some to work up a light sweat. With good health, it can simply be thought of as a great opportunity to accumulate more daily physical activity. But for individuals with cardiovascular symptoms such as chest pains due to angina, vacuuming without a power-assist vacuum could work the heart more than might be appropriate.
Scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center made the finding in a study that was prompted, in part, by reports from women who had complained of angina symptoms while vacuuming the house. Three dozen women in their 50s participated, each using five different types of vacuums. Two had power-assist functions that made it much easier to move them—one was an upright and the other was a canister vacuum. The three without power-assist—a heavy-duty upright, a lightweight upright, and a compact canister model—all required more elbow grease to move.
Those three also caused an in-creased myocardial oxygen demand. That means the women’s hearts had to work harder to pump blood to working muscles, which could put an already-compromised heart at further risk.
Vacuuming is by no means the only household chore that someone with established heart disease may need to reconsider. If you can no longer change the bed linens without stopping in the middle because you get short of breath or can no longer carry a bag of laundry up from the basement with ease, your doctor should know. Even if you haven’t been diagnosed with heart disease, the difficulty performing the chores could be a sign that there’s a problem.
Women, who tend to be the ones who take care of household tasks, are inclined to ignore or downplay such red flags because they don’t expect to get heart disease—even though it’s the number one killer for women, just as it is for men. Making matters worse, many women are not aware that their warning signs for heart disease often differ from men’s. Men’s first symptom is often a heart attack itself. Women’s first symptom can be shortness of breath or profound fatigue when they engage in activities they used to find easy.
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