Like all muscles, your heart grows stronger with exercise. That holds true whether you're young or old, fit or not-so-fit. In fact, whatever your age or fitness level, regular exercise can do you and your heart good. For heart disease sufferers, exercise can even reduce the risk of cardiac events. Keep your heart healthy: talk to your doctor about starting a fitness program, and find out what exercise can do for you.
Physical Inactivity and Heart Disease
Inactivity is one of the major risk factors for heart disease. In fact, people with sedentary lifestyles are 45 percent more likely to develop coronary artery disease than people who exercise regularly, reports The New York Times Health Guide. They're also 35 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure, and sedentary individuals also have higher overall rates of stroke.
Exercise and Heart Disease
Exercise is one of the top medication-free strategies to prevent heart disease. Physical activity helps you control your weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, even stress and smoking -- all contributing factors to heart disease. People who start exercising after having a heart attack have better rates of survival and a better quality of life.
Expert Insight
In 2001, a team of researchers compiled the data from every published controlled study of heart disease and exercise. They calculated results from over 8,000 patients who had suffered cardiac arrests or bypasses and found that exercise programs reduced the risk of death by 27 percent. Risk of death from heart attack was reduced by 31 percent, simply through exercise based rehabilitation. In 2007, Harvard Medical School researchers concluded that exercise was "the hands-down winner" when it came to reducing the risk of heart disease. Their research showed that exercise reduced heart disease risk by 35 to 55 percent.
Exercise and Heart Attack Risks
Despite the clear benefits of exercise, there are some situations in which it can bring on heart attacks. People with high risk for heart attack, serious hypertension or a history of heart problems are at the most risk for exercise-induced heart attacks. Likewise, sedentary people who throw themselves into a grueling workout may be seriously raising their risk of heart attack. Rarely, young people will die suddenly after exercise; this is nearly always due to an undiagnosed heart disorder, usually present from birth. Overall, if you have any concerns about your heart health, seek advice from a medical professional before starting an exercise program.
Potential
Research continues on the connections between exercise and heart health. The New York Times Health Guide cites one study in which people as old as 91 who had experienced heart failure were able to improve their health through supervised exercise. Talk to your doctor about the exercise regimen that's right for your condition. Incorporating exercise into your lifestyle now reduces your risk of several diseases, and will leave you with a much healthier heart and a greater chance of leading a long, full life.
References
- "New York Times Health Guide": Physical Activity: Exercise's Effects on the Heart
- MayoClinic.com: 5 Medication-Free Strategies to Help Prevent Heart Disease
- American Heart Association: Physical Activity
- "Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews"; Exercise-Based Rehabilitation for Coronary Heart Disease; Jolliffe J et al.; 2001
- Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide: Supplements vs. Exercise for Heart Disease and Cancer
