John C Quindry - May 1 and 6

Head shot of John C Quindry

Exercise and The Cardiac Fountain of Youth

Synopsis: Exercise is good for, no, great for the heart. Few people dispute that regular exercise participation is essential for optimal heart health, but the extent to which to which this is true is just now being understood from clinical and scientific perspectives. New discoveries reveal that the healthy heart attributes of exercise begin within a few days of starting an exercise program. Exercise phoebes will relish the fact that this “cardioprotection” doesn’t require extremes in exercise intensity or duration. Even better, it now appears that the normal course of heart aging can be slowed, or in some instances partially reversed, by a modest dose of cardiovascular exercise. Perhaps most interesting, the chemical underpinnings for the incredible exercise effect may be the cornerstone for developing new pharmacologic treatments of heart disease. 

John C Quindry is an associate professor in UM’s Department of Health and Human Performance. He trained in exercise physiology at Illinois State University and worked in cardiac rehabilitation and the health and fitness profession before earning his doctorate in biomedical sciences from East Tennessee State University. His research focuses on understanding why exercise is such a potent stimulus for good health. Applications of his findings reveal how an exercising muscle “talks” to the heart through chemical signals that promote better health. His current research projects apply these and related findings to diseases that include heart failure, heart attacks, muscular dystrophy, and environmental challenges, such as pollution.