Written By: Debjani Arora | Published : September 26, 2018 10:02 AM IST
Exercise and physical activity have been considered the most simple yet the effective way to keep your heart healthy. © Shutterstock
Sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity for long has been associated with increased cardiovascular risk and heart attacks. With the World Heart Day being just around the corner we thought it is apt to remind you that being a couch potato is doing you no good and probably preparing you for a premature death. No kidding here. Exercise and physical activity have been considered the most simple yet effective ways to keep your heart healthy and heart diseases at bay. A review paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology just reinstated this fact. The paper is part of an eight-part health promotion series where each paper will focus on a different risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
The paper stated that physical inactivity was one of the leading modifiable risk factors for heart disease, along with smoking and high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. In fact, a study in 2012 found that physical inactivity accounted for 9 per cent of premature deaths worldwide and was shown to be the reason behind 6 per cent of coronary heart disease, 7 per cent of type 2 diabetes and 10 per cent of both breast and colon cancer diagnoses.
If you are still sitting and reading this, we suggest get up and get moving, now. In this systematic review, the authors compiled the results of 25 published reviews that addressed both personal and environmental variables related to physical activity to determine how health care professionals can empower patients to adhere to a heart-healthy lifestyle. Gerald Fletcher, professor of medicine and cardiovascular disease at Mayo Clinic Florida and the review's lead author, reportedly said that physical activity should be a lifelong commitment. Regardless of sex, ethnicity or age, physical activity can be a major contributing factor in safeguarding your health. The revive also mentioned that the most active individuals have an approximate 40 per cent lower risk of developing heart disease than those who do not exercise at all.
How to boost heart health
Get up and get going. To benefit overall heart health, current guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise per week. Aerobic forms of exercise have been shown to lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure as much as 15 and 9 mmHg, respectively, among hypertensive patients, as well as reduce ischemic stroke risk and decrease LDL levels with the aid of a proper diet.
Sedentary behaviours like sitting in front of a computer or watching television occupy almost eight hours of the average person's day, but replacing one hour of sitting time with an equal amount of activity have been shown to effectively lower all-cause mortality. Researchers say that instead of being dependent on others for menial jobs one should involve more in household chores to be more active. They also advise office-goers to use stand-up desks, stand-up conference rooms with no chairs and use the stairs more instead of an elevator to promote physical activity in the work environment.
The authors of the study believe that just like medication, the right form of physical activity has to be specialized for each patient. Physical activity is no different from smoking cessation or eating a heart-healthy diet.
