People who exercise vigorously are 88% less likely to die from heart disease over the next 15 years

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Wednesday, July 09, 2014 12:06 pm Email this article

People who engage in vigorous recreational physical activity—exercise which made them breathe harder or puff or pant—are 84% less likely to suffer cardiovascular disease (CVD) and are 88% less likely to die from coronary heart disease over the next 15 years compared to people who engage in a low amount of recreational physical activity—exercise which did not cause them to breathe harder—according to a recent study from Australia.

After adjusting for the Framingham Risk Score (measures of blood pressure, cholesterol, etc) and central obesity (belly fat), people who engage in vigorous recreational physical activity were 65% less likely to have died from cardiovascular disease than people with a low level of activity.

Conclusion

Conclusion: Recreational physical activity reduces the risk of dying from CVD over 15 years

“Recreational physical activity independently predicted reduced cardiovascular mortality over fifteen years,” the authors of the paper concluded.

“A public health focus on increased physical activity and preventing obesity is required to reduce the risk of CVD (cardiovascular disease) and CHD [coronary heart disease].”

Subjects

Subjects: 4175 males and 4487 females

The study consisted of 4175 males (average age 42 years) and 4487 females (average age 42 years) with no history of heart disease, diabetes or stroke, and the sample of adults in Australian capital cities and were linked with the National Death Index to determine the causes of death of 610 subjects who had died to 31 December 2004.

Reference

Dhaliwal SS, Welborn TA, and Howat PA. Recreational physical activity as an independent predictor of multivariable cardiovascular disease risk. PLoS One, 2013; 8(12): e83435.

Author’s Contact Info

Satvinder S. Dhaliwal
School of Public Health
Curtin University
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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