We are searching data for your request:
Upon completion, a link will appear to access the found materials.
Reduction in physical activity is associated with increased cardiovascular risk
People over the age of 60 should exercise more, not less, to avoid heart disease and strokes. This emerges from a study published in the European Heart Journal. For the scientific investigation, the researchers were able to access data from more than a million people.
As the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) wrote in a statement, researchers from South Korea found that people who underwent less moderate or vigorous physical activity as they grew older were 27 percent more likely to develop cardiac and had blood vessel problems, while those who increased their activity level were at one to eleven percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease. The link between physical activity and the risk of cardiovascular disease in the elderly also applied to those with disabilities and chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.
Data from over a million people
Under the supervision of Professor Sang Min Park, the researchers conducted the study on 1,119,925 men and women aged 60 years or older under the supervision of Kyuwoong Kim, a doctoral student at the Seoul National University Graduate School Department of Biomedical Sciences. Participants underwent two consecutive health checks offered by the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NIHS) from 2009 to 2010 and from 2011 to 2012. The subjects were followed up until December 2016.
With each health check, the participants answered questions about their physical activity and lifestyle. For each screening, the researchers calculated the weekly number of moderate exercises (e.g. 30 minutes or more per day for brisk walking, dancing, gardening) and intensive exercises (e.g. 20 minutes or more per day for running, fast cycling, aerobic Exercises) and how this had changed between the checks in the two years.
In addition, data on heart diseases and strokes were collected from January 2013 to December 2016. The scientists adapted their analyzes to take into account socio-economic factors such as age and gender, other illnesses and medications taken, and lifestyle factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption.
The average age of the participants was 67 years and 47 percent were men. About two-thirds said they were physically inactive in both the first and second screening periods. In both screening periods, the proportion of physically inactive women (78 and 77 percent) was higher than that of men (67 and 66 percent). Only 22 percent of the inactive individuals had increased physical activity at the time of the second health check, and 54 percent of those who exercised five or more times a week at the time of the first screening had become inactive at the time of the second. A total of 114,856 cases of heart disease or stroke occurred in the follow-up period.
Reduced risk of cardiovascular problems
The researchers found that people who switched from continuous inactivity to moderate or intense activity three to four times a week during the 2009/2010 health check had an 11 percent reduced risk of cardiovascular problems. Those who were moderately or vigorously active once or twice a week at the first exam had a ten percent reduced risk if they increased their activities to five or more times a week.
In contrast, those who were moderately or vigorously active more than five times a week on the first check and became continuously inactive on the second check had a 27 percent increased risk of cardiovascular problems. When targeting people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, the researchers found that those who switched from an inactive lifestyle to one with three to four moderate or vigorous activities per week also reduced the risk of cardiovascular problems. People with a disability were at a reduced risk of 16 percent, and people with diabetes, high blood pressure, or cholesterol were at a reduced risk of between four and seven percent.
Older adults should increase or maintain their exercise frequency
"The main message of this study is that older adults should increase or maintain their exercise frequency to prevent cardiovascular disease," said Kim. "While older adults find it difficult to exercise regularly as they get older, our research suggests that it is necessary for cardiovascular health to be more physically active, and that includes people with disabilities and chronic illnesses," said the scientist. Kim indicated that governments should support physical activity programs for older adults. And: "From a clinical perspective, doctors should" prescribe "physical activity along with other recommended medical treatments for people at high risk of cardiovascular disease."
Results limited by various factors
The size of the study is a strength, but one limitation is that it was only conducted in the Korean population, and researchers can therefore not be sure whether its results also apply to other groups due to their different ethnicity and lifestyle. Other restrictions include: Physical activity was assessed based on a self-reported statement that could be subject to bias. There was a lack of information about other types of physical activity, such as housework and also muscle-strengthening activities. The researchers were unable to assess why people changed their level of physical activity because this was a study based on real-world data rather than intervention study data. (ad)
Author and source information
This text corresponds to the specifications of the medical literature, medical guidelines and current studies and has been checked by medical doctors.
Swell:
- European Society of Cardiology: Increased exercise over the age of 60 reduces risk of heart disease and stroke, (accessed: November 9, 2019), European Society of Cardiology
- European Heart Journal: Changes in exercise frequency and cardiovascular outcomes in older adults, (accessed: November 9, 2019), European Heart Journal
