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 Over several decades, the study found that regular moderate
exercisers were half as likely to die when they had a heart attack,
compared to people who were sedentary.
Despite this benefit, exercise did not seem to protect heart attack
survivors from dying or experiencing heart failure later on, the
researchers write in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
“We already know that exercise protects you from heart attack, as
well as a number of other beneficial effects,” said senior author
Dr. Eva Prescott of the University of Copenhagen and Bispebjerg
Hospital.
“The main finding here is that among people who do get a heart
attack, the ones who exercise more seem to be more likely to survive
a heart attack than people who exercise less,” Prescott said by
email.
“Exercise is good for you, we know that. These findings confirm that
and help us understand why,” she said.
To examine the potential influence of exercise on heart attack
survival, the researchers analyzed data on more than 14,000 people
participating in the Copenhagen City Heart Study, none of whom had
experienced a heart attack or stroke at the beginning of the study
period.
Participants reported on their level of physical activity at the
baseline assessment between 1976 and 1978 and researchers followed
their health over the years through 2013.
Based on their leisure time physical activity at the start of the
study, participants were categorized into one of three groups:
sedentary, meaning they engaged in only light activity for less than
two hours per week; light exercise, which meant they did two to four
hours of walking or equivalent activity each week; or moderate/high
exercise, which meant greater than two hours of vigorous activity
like biking weekly.
Over the study period, 1,664 people had heart attacks and 425 died
right away. The average age at which people had a heart attack was
71.
Among those who had a heart attack, the majority, 54 percent, were
in the light exercise category - and they were 32 percent more
likely to survive than people who were sedentary. People who were
moderate or high exercisers were 47 percent more likely to survive.
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Having been an exerciser did not guard against future heart failure
for heart attack survivors, however. People who exercised were just
as likely as sedentary peers to develop heart failure in the five
years following a heart attack, the study also found.
The same was true for death over the longer term. Among the heart
attack survivors, 83 percent died during the seven-year period
following their heart attack. There was no difference in the
mortality rate between people who had moderate/high levels of
exercise and those who exercised less or not at all.
Nonetheless, regular exercise can help lower blood pressure, said
Antonio Crisafulli, who studies exercise and heart function at the
University of Cagliari in Italy.
"In short, if we have a low blood pressure, the work required to the
heart is reduced,” said Crisafulli, who was not involved in the
study.
Exercise is not a miracle cure and even active people may face heart
attacks, Crisafulli noted, but active people are more likely to
survive heart problems.
Exercise signals to the body to create more pathways to bring oxygen
to the heart, Prescott added. In this way, even if an artery becomes
blocked and causes a heart attack, the heart will still have other
ways to get oxygen.
“Exercise is one of the best and smartest ways to keep our body
healthy and to survive if something wrong happens in our
cardiovascular system,” Crisafulli added.
SOURCE: bit.ly/2oMgakh European Journal of Preventive Cardiology,
online April 11, 2017.
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