Inactivity may increase heart disease risk

Technology

Inactivity may increase heart disease risk

Close

According to a study, lack of physical fitness may increase risk of developing heart disease.

04 November,2011 03:50 pm

When it comes to heart disease, being fit may be more important than being thin, according to a study of more than 900 women published.Our study shows that the lack of physical fitness is a stronger risk factor for developing heart disease than being overweight or obese, said Timothy Wessel, a physician at the University of Florida who headed up the research.The study involved 906 women whose health histories were tracked from 1996 to 2000. Seventy-six percent were overweight at the start of the study, when the mean age of the group was 58.In addition to being measured for weight, the women were asked about their ability to do common physical activities at home, work and at leisure, such as climbing a flight of stairs, running a short distance or walking around the block without stopping.During the study, 68 of the women died and 455 suffered a heart disease-related problem such as a heart attack or stroke.When analyzed by categories of weight and activity, women who were at least moderately active were less likely to develop heart disease or related problems than women with low activity scores, no matter which weight category they were in, according to the study published in this weeks Journal of the American Medical Association.Bairey Merz, a physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and another of the studys authors, said that because physical fitness has beneficial effects on many factors related to cardiovascular risk, including obesity, increased activity appears to be an ideal therapy for women with coronary heart disease.He said the American Heart Association endorses at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity for women on most or all days of the week.A second study published in the same journal, however, found that being overweight is a bigger risk factor than inactivity when it comes to adult-onset diabetes among women.