Everyone knows that exercise is good for you, and that it reduces the risk of heart disease and of death. Now, researchers from the Univeristy of Michigan Medical School and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System report that exercise is especially important for those who have significant risk factors for heart disease.
The researchers studied over 9,000 individuals in their 50s and 60s, questioning them on their activity levels and their risk factors, and then following them over time. About 15% were entirely sedentary, and about the same proportion were regularly active (with activities such as cycling or aerobics at least 3 times per week). The remainder were "occasionally active."
They found that the individuals who were regularly active had a morality rate that was 35% lower than for those who were sedentary. As expected, individuals with several cardiac risk factors had a much higher death rate than those without high risk. But the people with high risk who engaged in regular activity had a 45% reduction in mortality compared to sedentary high risk individuals. (They still died off a lot faster than patients with low risk.)
The researchers conclude that exercise is beneficial for anyone in their 50s and 60s, and can significantly reduce the odds of early death. This finding supports the results from a lot of other studies showing the same thing. What is new here is that regular physical activity has an even bigger beneficial survival for people with significant cardiac risk factors.
The bottom line: people who have hypertension, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and/or smoke probably need exercise even more than people who don't. Doctors and patients who still believe that a high risk of cardiac disease means you'd better just take it easy are wrong. You'd better get out there and shake it like everybody else.
