Regular Exercise Cuts the Risk of Heart Failure by 46 Percent

A team of researchers has found that increased sedentary lifestyle is not good for the heart as it ups the risk of heart failure.

Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure, is a common disabling disease that accounts for nearly 2 percent of the total healthcare cost in the industrialized countries. It occurs when the heart muscle fails to pump blood. It affects 5 million Americans. The risk of death within five years of diagnosis is 30-50 percent.

The latest study found that adhering to an hour of moderate or half an hour of vigorous exercise per day helps lower the risk of heart failure by almost 46 percent. The finding is based on the evaluation of 38,805 people aged between 20-90 years. None of the study participants had a history of heart failure before the start of the study in 1997.

As part of the study, the researchers evaluated the total and leisure time activity at the start of the study. The subjects were monitored to see how it was linked to the risk of developing heart failure. It was seen that the more active a person was, lower was the risk of heart failure.

Apart from this, the researchers also noticed that the group that had the highest leisure time activity - an hour of moderate or half an hour of vigorous physical activity per day - had 46 percent lower risk of suffering a heart failure. The benefits of physical activity were equal in men and women.

Older men with lower level of education had a higher body mass index and wait-hip ratio, suffered a heart failure. Apart from those, people with history of heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol also had a heart failure.

"You do not need to run a marathon to gain the benefits of physical activity -- even quite low levels of activity can give you positive effects," said Kasper Andersen, M.D., Ph.D., study co-author and researcher at the Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. "Physical activity lowers many heart disease risk factors, which in turn lowers the risk of developing heart failure as well as other heart diseases."

As part of the study, the participants had to complete questionnaires that had details of lifestyle, physical activity, smoking and alcohol habits, and use of medications. They calculated the total physical activity that had job-related activities, leisure activities.

The self-reported leisure physical activity was further classified into three categories: light such as casual walking; moderate such as jogging or swimming; and heavy such as competitive sports. Using medical records they verified details of diagnosis, hospitalization and deaths.

"The Western world promotes a sedentary lifestyle," Andersen said. "There are often no healthy alternative forms of transportation; in many buildings it is hard to find the stairs; and at home television and computers encourage sedentary behavior. Making it easier and safer to walk, bicycle or take the stairs could make a big difference. Our research suggests that everyone could benefit from getting out there and moving every day."

The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderately intense physical activity every week. They recommend 40 minutes of physical activity 3-4 times per week for those who needed to lower their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

The finding was documented in journal Circulation.