UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications

UT Tyler Announces Additional Orientation for Heart Health Study

June 22, 2016

Media Contact:  Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer–Strategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)

The University of Texas at Tyler Department of Kinesiology is recruiting individuals for a heart health study. Participants must be 55 – 75 years old, have been diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation – or AFib and be able to conduct moderate exercise as approved by a physician.

Officials will register those interested and qualified at an additional orientation meeting 2 – 4 p.m. Thursday, June 30 in the UT Tyler Herrington Patriot Center, room 2255. To sign-up, call 903.565.5913.

UT Tyler assistant professor and Laboratory of Brain Aging and Neuromotor Behavior director Dr. Benjamin Tseng will lead the study, which involves a three-month randomized controlled trial consisting of exercise and control groups.

The UT Tyler brain aging team will evaluate the participants at baseline and after three months. Assessments will include heart rhythm monitoring, neuroimaging methods, ultrasound and applanation atonometry, where the stiffness of blood vessels is measured without skin penetration.

The study will potentially revise American Heart Association stroke prevention guidelines. Its objective is to determine if moderate aerobic training reduces stroke risk by improving arterial stiffness, brain blood flow and decreasing cardiovascular burden in AFib patients, Tseng said.

Aerobic training has been shown to reduce arterial stiffness and improves brain blood flow in older adults, according to Tseng. AFib is the most common type of irregular heartbeat among that population, and the disease is the leading cause of fatal ischemic stroke, where blood clots obstruct blood flow in the brain, he added.

For more information, contact Tseng, 903.566.7042 or btseng@uttyler.edu or visit https://www.facebook.com/BrainLab.UTTyler/.

One of the 14 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler features excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degrees are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of more than 8,500 high-ability students. UT Tyler offers courses at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine as well as a location in Houston.