Physical exercise may be even more important for the prevention of cardiovascular disease than was previously known – and the more activity, the better, suggested a new large study conducted by the University of Oxford.
To measure physical activity, researchers in the UK had 90,211 subjects wear an accelerometer (a small, light motion sensor) on their wrist over a seven-day period between 2013 and 2015. The researchers tracked the participants’ health over an average five years.
Overall, there were 3,617 cases of cardiovascular disease diagnosed in the participants, who were part of the the UK Biobank’s broadest study with people between 40 and 69 years old. Cases of cardiovascular disease decreased among the participants as the amount of moderate and vigorous physical activity increased. Furthermore, there was no limit to where the effects of exercise stop improving cardiovascular health, the study found. Those who were most active – among the top 25% – had an average risk reduction of between 48% and 57%.
“During the pandemic, because of blockages or self-imposed isolation, people have not received as much ‘incidental’ activity, particularly in relation to travel or movement in an office, for example,” said Terence Dwyer, a professor emeritus. of epidemiology at the University of Oxford and author of the study published on Tuesday.
“This means that they need to do more purposeful activities to maintain even what they did previously. Our findings should give them more confidence that this is something they should really pay attention to. It should also provide confidence to increase their BP (activity physical) beyond the levels they could have taken regularly before the pandemic. ”
People in the top 25% did about 50 minutes a week of vigorous intensity physical activity, such as running, while the bottom 25% had less than 10 minutes a week of vigorous intensity physical activity, said study author Aiden Doherty, associate professor in the population health department of Nuffield, Oxford University.
Although those who exercised more were also more likely to not smoke, drink less alcohol and have a healthy body weight, the researchers said they took these factors into account in their analysis and found that the association between increased exercise and decreased cardiovascular disease was still strong.
These results, the researchers said, demonstrated that exercise alone has a significant effect on the risk of being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, claiming about 17.9 million lives each year, the researchers said.
Most studies examining the benefits of physical activity typically use questionnaires, which may be less accurate, as most people cannot accurately remember all activities that happen throughout the day – both for leisure and as part of of a person’s daily routine.
The researchers said they were confident that using the device, which they described as a “research-level Fitbit”, was an accurate way to reflect an individual’s usual activity over time, although it recorded only seven days of physical activity.
Another survey showed that the activity measured in this way was “moderately stable,” said Doherty, and more research was being conducted to assess its accuracy.
“Using this more accurate measurement, and in a large number of people, we found that the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease in the UK Biobank cohort is observed at the highest level of physical activity, whether total, moderate – or vigorous – intensity, “he said.
“This is the largest study of physical activity measured by device and cardiovascular disease. It shows that physical activity is probably even more important for preventing cardiovascular disease than we previously thought. Our findings reinforce the new WHO guidelines on physical activity that it recommends at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity per week for all adults. “
The study results were similar for men and women, although the benefits of vigorous exercise appeared to be particularly strong for women.