Next to Alzheimer’s disease, the most populated section in the A to Z health listing has got to be in the exercise section.  Take a look for yourself.  From reducing cigarette cravings to chocolate cravings, reversing muscle loss to preventing mind loss, there’s almost nothing that exercise doesn’t in some way affect.  It even affects how at risk you are from dying from the leading cause of death in the world:  heart disease.

The study comes out of the Department of Cardiology in New Orleans and it followed approximately 520 people with heart complications.  Part of their rehabilitation involved weekly exercise sessions, where each participant would walk, ride a bicycle, or jog for approximately 30 minutes every other day (i.e., three days a week).  Most of the subjects participated, but several of them did not.  Those that didn’t participate in the 12-week exercise program served as the study’s controls.

At the conclusion of the 12-week exercise program, the researchers followed up with the volunteers for another six years to see if they continued with their exercise efforts and to see if they became more “fit” as a result.  They also assessed their stress levels, something that they assessed at the start of the study as well.  Most of the participants had high stress levels when the study began.

That couldn’t be said when the study ended.  When the study ended, approximately one in 20 still had high stress levels.  That sounds like a lot, but not when you compare it to what that rate was when the study began, where one in 10 had high stress levels.

Where this study really makes headlines (this study was published on one of the most highly trafficked web sites, the Drudge Report) is with regards to how much the participants reduced their risk of dying from heart disease.  The researchers report that in comparison to the controls, the exercisers were 60 percent less likely to die over the next six years of observation!

The full details of the study are published in one of the most prestigious of medical journals, the American Journal of Medicine.

Now, this doesn’t come as breaking news, I grant you.  Anyone who’s anyone knows that exercise improves overall health, but that’s in general.   This study paints a more dramatic picture of just how much it can improve health—decreasing a heart patient’s risk of death by a whopping 60 percent!!

It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway:  You should always consult with your physician before you start an exercise program.  Should your doctor give you the go-ahead, remember that the researchers came back with these findings for those that exercised gently.  In other words, you don’t have to go “all out” when you exercise.  Just about anything that at least moderately increases your heart rate should work.

While walking, jogging or biking are fine activities, think “outside the box” for exercise options.  Dance (even if it’s by yourself).  Row a boat.  Play Frisbee.  Swim.  Ski.  Water ski.  Jump rope.  So long as it’s for a half hour, the sky’s the limit for options.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big advocate for trying to exercise at least 60 minutes every day, but as this study shows, even 30 minutes of moderate activity—for as little as three days a week—can dramatically reduce your risk of dying prematurely.

Sources
dailyexpress.co.uk