|
 Fitness has long been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease in
older adults. The new study, however, offers fresh evidence that
workout routines started years before cardiovascular problems are
generally encountered may help keep them from developing in the
first place.
“Each additional minute a person could exercise on a treadmill in
early adulthood was associated with substantially lower likelihood
of risk of dying or developing cardiovascular diseases over 25 years
later,” lead study author Dr. Ravi Shah of Harvard Medical School
and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston said by email.
The study included about 4,900 adults aged 18 to 30 who performed
treadmill tests in 1985 and 1986, with roughly half of them
repeating the exercise assessments again seven years later. The
tests consisted of as many as nine two-minute stages of gradually
increasing difficulty.
Over the next several decades, the researchers monitored
participants for obesity, hardening in the coronary arteries, heart
muscle weakness, and incidents related to cardiovascular disease
such as heart attacks or strokes. Half the subjects were followed
for at least 27 years.
Overall, 273 people died, though just 73 of these fatalities were
related to cardiovascular disease, the researchers report in JAMA
Internal Medicine.
In addition, 193 people survived events such as heart attacks or
strokes.
Each extra minute participants lasted during the treadmill test as
young adults was linked to a 12 percent lower risk of cardiovascular
disease and 15 percent lower odds of death by the end of the study
period.
Every one-minute increase in treadmill time was also linked to less
strain on the heart muscle, but exercise test duration wasn’t tied
to changes in hardening of the coronary arteries.
Among the subset of participants who did the second treadmill test
seven years after the initial assessment, each one minute reduction
in exercise tolerance was linked with a 20 percent increase in
cardiovascular events and 21 percent greater odds of death.
The increased risks persisted after the researchers accounted for
individuals’ age, race, gender, obesity, and other cardiovascular
disease risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, elevated blood
pressure and high cholesterol.
The fact that even obesity didn’t change the outcome highlights the
need to think about exercise as more than merely a tool for weight
management, noted study co-author Dr. Venkatesh Murthy of the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
[to top of second column] |
“Being fit and maintaining fitness over time are very important to
your heart and overall health for everyone – especially starting in
early adulthood – and not only for people who are trying to lose or
to maintain weight,” Murthy said by email.
It’s possible that some of the association between fitness and heart
health may be explained by improved diet, the authors concede. A
different measure of cardiorespiratory fitness, known as a peak
aerobic capacity test, might also get different results than the
treadmill assessments.
Even so, the findings offer a substantive confirmation of the
importance of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in the
prevention of cardiovascular disease, Dr. David Chiriboga and Dr.
Ira Ockene of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in
Worcester wrote in an accompanying editorial.
Beyond fitness and exercise, patients should also understand the
importance of limiting sedentary time, Ockene said by email. Many
daily habits that contribute to inactivity – whether it’s channel
surfing, using drive-through windows at the bank or the fast food
restaurant, or emailing co-workers instead of walking down the hall
to talk – all contribute to decreased fitness and increased weight.
“I spend a lot of time talking to folks not just about literal
exercise but also about the extraordinary value of day-to-day
activity,” Ockene said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1Rhajem JAMA Internal Medicine, online
November 30, 2015.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
