People who exercise a lot are less likely to have a heart attack or stroke than inactive people, even when they have a genetic predisposition to heart disease, British research has found.
People with a stronger handshake, more physical activity and better cardiovascular fitness have a lower risk of heart disease even in cases where cases of heart attacks and strokes have been recorded in the family, the result of research.
"Even if you have a higher genetic risk, you can improve your chances of maintaining good cardiovascular health by exercising," says study leader Erik Ingelson, a scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine in California.
So, for example, among people with a moderate genetic risk for cardiovascular disease included in the study, individuals with the strongest handshake were 36 percent less likely to develop coronary heart disease and had a 46 percent lower chance of developing atrial fibrillation compared to people with the weakest. with a handshake, according to a study whose results were published in the journal Circulation.
And among people with a high genetic risk for cardiovascular disease, those who were in the best cardiovascular shape had a 49 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease compared to those who were the least fit. They also had a 60 percent lower risk of atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder that puts people at risk of stroke.
None of the participants had heart disease at the beginning of the study and they were between 40 and 69 years old, and half remained in the study for more than six years.
During the research, 20.914 cases of heart disease, strokes, atrial fibrillation and cardiac arrest were recorded, Jutranji.hr reported.
With the help of questionnaires on physical activity, the scientists assessed how much the subjects exercised, and with the help of treadmills they assessed the real cardiovascular fitness of each subject, while they measured the strength of the hand grip with devices. They also collected data on diseases in the family.
Exercise was found to be associated with a lower risk of heart disease even after scientists took into account other influencing factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, diabetes, smoking, blood pressure and use of blood-thinning medications. of cholesterol.
"Keeping fit leads to less body fat, less obesity, and more muscle," says Donna Arnett of the University of Kentucky, former president of the American Heart Association, who was not involved in the research.
"This leads to lower blood pressure, less diabetes, better utilization of glucose and insulin, and overall better metabolic health."
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