In
a new study (September 2014) reported in the American Heart Association journal Circulation:
Heart Failure, researchers say more than an hour of moderate or half an
hour of vigorous exercise per day may lower your risk of heart failure by 46
percent.
Heart
failure is a common, disabling disease that accounts for about 2 percent of
total healthcare costs in industrialized countries. Risk of death within five
years of diagnosis is 30 percent to 50 percent, researchers said.
Swedish
researchers studied 39,805 people 20-90 years old who didn't have heart failure
when the study began in 1997. Researchers assessed their total- and leisure
time activity at the beginning of the study and followed them to see how this
was related to their subsequent risk of developing heart failure. They found
that the more active a person, the lower their risk for heart failure.
They
also found:
•
The group with the highest leisure time activity (more than one hour of
moderate or half an hour of vigorous physical activity a day) had a 46 percent
lower risk of developing heart failure.
•
Physical activity was equally beneficial for men and women.
•
Those who developed heart failure were older, male, had lower levels of
education, a higher body mass index and waist-hip ratio, and a history of heart
attack, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
"You
do not need to run a marathon to gain the benefits of physical activity -- even
quite low levels of activity can give you positive effects," said Kasper
Andersen, M.D., Ph.D., study co-author and researcher at the Uppsala University
in Uppsala, Sweden. "Physical activity lowers many heart disease risk
factors, which in turn lowers the risk of developing heart failure as well as
other heart diseases."
Study
participants completed questionnaires that included information about
lifestyle, physical activity, smoking and alcohol habits, and medication use.
Researchers looked at total physical activity, which included job-related
activities, and leisure activities. Participants' self-reported leisure
physical activity was divided further into three categories: light, such as
casual walking; moderate, such as jogging or swimming; and heavy, such as
competitive sports. Diagnoses, hospitalizations and deaths were verified using
participants' medical records.
"The
Western world promotes a sedentary lifestyle," Andersen said. "There
are often no healthy alternative forms of transportation; in many buildings it
is hard to find the stairs; and at home television and computers encourage
sedentary behavior.
"Making
it easier and safer to walk, bicycle or take the stairs could make a big
difference. Our research suggests that everyone could benefit from getting out
there and moving every day."
Although
the relationship between heart failure and exercise has not been broadly
studied, the study's findings reaffirm the importance of continued physical
activity for all adults and support the American Heart Association's
recommendations of 150 minutes of moderately intense physical activity every
week. For those who need to lower their blood pressure and cholesterol the
association recommends 40 minutes 3-4 times per week.
In
the United States, heart disease, a major risk factor for heart failure,
remains the leading cause of death, claiming 380,000 lives every year. An
estimated 5.7 million Americans have congestive heart failure and about half
die within five years of their diagnosis.
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