Exercise, Lifestyle and Life Experience with Dilated Aorta?

Hi Gerald,

My doctor was also very vague when I was diagnosed. A lot of what I see online from others involves maintaining good blood pressure and no “valsalva maneuvers”, essentially holding your breath to pick up something heavy.

I am certain others will lend their advice, just letting you know the information I’ve received.

The best advice I can give you is to find a cardiologist who specializes in aortic diseases, they do all their research in the subject (they also normally specialize in bicuspid valves). Your aneurysm is small so maybe too early for a surgeon. If you have seen the video from Dr Prakash in this thread he covers the effects of exertion on BP and therefore aneurysms. The main issue is when exertion causes BP to rise, and that normally happens when you hold your breath and grunt for spine stability and pull/push heavy weights (which may include overcoming body weight like when doing crunches). Not knowing how to properly breathe when exerting is a big reason, it takes practice and discipline since sometimes we just forget to breathe especially if the effort is too high.

Think about the efforts that you are making and whether they are so hard you are not properly breathing while doing them. Limit the effort to what you can comfortably do without major exertion.

For context, I had a 5.2 cm ascending aneurysm and still have a bicuspid valve. The aneurysm was repaired in 2020, the valve will have to be replaced at some point.

Peace and all the best

I am a heart patient with 5 stents, 3 in my LAD, I've had 3 heart attacks and diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and now, aortic ectasia.
I've been taking cayenne pepper capsules almost daily for 3 years now.
According to Barbara O'Neil, cayenne pepper makes the blood thinner and heals blood vessels of any weak spots or tears, and possibly preventin aneurysms. I'm counting on that right now due to my own heart health challenges.

Best of blessings to you.

Where can I find Dr Prakash’s video?
Thanks

Here it is, there’s a second one someone posted with an update from his research I will try to find it, this one is very educational

@davidtrey Hello, I am in a similar situation as you with the dilated aorta. Last year September I had a Low Dose Lung CT Scan that said my ascending aorta was mildly dilated at 3.9cm. February this year I had a follow up Chest CT Scan without contrast and it did not give a measurement but it said No Thoracic Aneurysm. I just completed my second Low Dose Lung CT Scan last week and it said my ascending aorta was mildly dilated at 4.2cm. Previously measured at 4.0cm. So what's up with this right?? Well in my research over the last few days I have read that the margin of error can be anywhere from 2-3mm and not clinically significant, and not necessarily representative of growth. There's a lot of information out there about different testing modalities, differences in radiologist interpretations, timing differences of where in the normal heart beating cycle the measurement is taken, especially when using NON Gated CT Scans. Which the Low Dose Lung CT scans I have been getting annually are NON Gated meaning not timed to occur at a specific point in the systole, diastole phases of normal heart rhythm. I've basically read that unless you are using the same imaging modality and that is a GATED CT scan that isolates the same time interval from one scan to the next and takes the measurement at that point every time, recent scan comparisons are likely unreliable. The research says to get a better idea of true growth means you have to have consistent scans taken the same way over a longer period of time. Sorry to be long winded but I guess I'm trying to say to myself and to you maybe lets not panic and freak out at this point. I plan on following up with a cardiologist about all this. Maybe you could ask yours about "margin of error" and whether or not you are getting gated or non gated scans each time. Supposedly the gold standard that they use for surgical planning when they need accuracy on these things is Gated CT scan with contrast dye. I would be the same as you about the weight lifting and stick to cardio and make sure your BP is well controlled. I hope for your sake and mine that taking measures for maintaining BP, healthy weight and healthy lifestyle will be all it takes to keep these things from growing. I've heard of many others in this forum who have been stable for decades and that gives me great hope. Wishing you good health!

In a similar situation.86 yrs old love being physical,gym working around house and skiing.Still cutting lawn for a neighbor with walk behind mower.Knew I have abdominal AA but just found out about thoracic aneurysm of 4.6.Dr said I have a strong heart and pumping action is excellent.Still go to gym but mostly cardio and some light machine exercises.Lots of walking.Hopefully I can maintain a healthful life.Glad I found this site!

Just some experience to share on athletic activity:
I have, for most of my adult life been a bicyclist. My ability to stay active varied over the years depending on other pressing issues in life.

After Covid came along in 2020, I started to focus on it again. So in the summer of 2022 following what I believed was an uneventful stress test, I had a call from my cardiologist urging me to come in promptly for an exam and what he described was ‘probably a stent’.
Instead he found a badly calcified bicuspid aortic valve…. Accompanied by what he described as ‘mild dilation’ (4.9 cm) of the aorta at the ascending arch.
Given the … apparent lack of concern over the dilation. I thought a TAVR to fix the valve looked really far preferable to open heart surgery.
An older surgeon saw me first and wanted to repair the artery.
A younger surgeon who had a lot of experience with TAVR’s felt the dilation (or aneurysm if you want to call it that) thought it was manageable. I did the TAVR on Friday and was driving and doing errands on the following Tuesday.
We agreed I would have regular exams on the condition of my aorta on at least an annual basis.
Although I felt fine, I was nervous going back to cycling.
I resumed it after about six months. At the annual exam, my aorta had actually shrunk (only a tiny amount to 4.8, but any is good). At two years, it was 4.6. After the second year of good measirements, I really have started putting my heart into cycling… no pun intended. I sprint and climb mountains… and my cardiologist cheers me on. At three years, my cardiologist thinks there was a measurement error… at 4.1. cm. Maybe so, but it certainly doesn’t seem to be getting worse.

I have, for the most part, quit worrying about exercising and the aneurysm at this point. I have some concern about how long my artificial valve will last… hammering it as I do. They are, however stackable.
My cardiologist says that keeping the heart strong by exercise improves the chances of surviving an event (I.e., heart attack) because the coronary arteries become cross-connected from athletic activity.

@leonh That is amazing! Glad you can remain active. Were these measurements taken by echo? From all I’ve read there can be differences in measurement between echos if being read by different people. Your’s seems to definitely indicate a downward trend. Have you had a CT? I am glad you are hitting it. I have reduced my weightlifting dramatically, no running, and biking somewhat, but keeping myself in zone two until I see a cardiologist. My root is 4.3 cm. Second measurement by echo, the first being 4.0 in 2018 and this recent one last month.