By Kate Kelland
LONDON (Reuters) – When it comes to heart health issues, there is not too much exercise, scientists said in research on Tuesday that they dispel the myth that high levels of vigorous physical activity are not always beneficial.
According to the scientists, every movement is important for improving cardiovascular health, the scientists said, with the lowest risk of heart disease in people who exercise the most.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide – according to the World Health Organization (WHO) nearly 18 million people die each year worldwide.
This research, which studied more than 90,000 people over a five-year period, found that those among the top 25% of people who engaged in intense activity had an average reduction in the risk of heart disease between 54 % and 63%.
For those in the top quarter of all types of exercise – covering activity from moderate to vigorous – the average risk reduction for heart disease was between 48% and 57%.
“It dispels the myth that there is a peak within which you no longer have to exercise,” said Rema Ramakrishnan, a biostatistician and epidemiologist at Oxford University who co-led the study. “There is no limit to what you can do in terms of physical activity (to improve heart health).”
Aiden Doherty, a professor at Oxford who worked with Ramakrishnan, said the results of the study were a good endorsement for the WHO advice that people should do at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise per week .
“This is the largest study ever of device-measured physical activity and cardiovascular disease,” he said. This shows that ‘physical activity is probably even more important … than we previously thought.’
The study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, used pulse-carrying activity-tracking devices known as accelerometers to accurately record the activity of more than 90,000 participants.
According to the researchers, the results were similar for men and women, although the benefits of vigorous exercise appear to be particularly strong for women.
And although people who exercised more were also more likely not to smoke, have a healthy weight and a moderate alcohol intake, the researchers said they adapted to these factors and still found a strong link between higher levels of movement and heart disease at a lower rate.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Angus MacSwan)