Exercise Helps Heart Disease Patients Live Longer

Ok, this isn't exactly a big scoop I admit. There are some facts of life that are drilled into our heads from a young age and the truth that exercise provides health aspects is one of those facts.

We don't need studies to tell us that walking around the mall everyday or jogging 3 miles a day is good for us. When we do exercise, our bodies respond and we do feel better.

However, as part of our health teaching for patients with heart disease, it is still nice to see a study once in a while. It reinforces our knowledge and may give us extra incentive to go out and get moving! And it doesn't seem like we have to do it often- only once a week?? Yes, that is what the study says:

A study to be published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation concludes that one weekly exercise session is associated with lower all-cause mortality, both in women and men.

"The most important finding was that CHD patients lived longer even though they exercised only once a week," says Trine Moholdt a PhD student at the Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging at the Faculty of Medicine, NTNU.

"Mortality decreased by 30 per cent among women who exercised once a week compared to those who did not exercise at all. For men the corresponding figure was 20 per cent," states Trine Moholdt.

And this wasn't some "fly by night" study testing 20 patients over 3 months. No, no, no, this study followed 3,500 people with coronary artery disease over an 18 year period.

Moholdt also says that "The more intense the exercise is, the better," A lot of people are apprehensive about exercise after a myocardial infarction. But it is more risky to be inactive than to do exercise.

So as the weekend is near, for you weekend warriors who go golfing every Saturday, or for those who play a weekly doubles match on the tennis court, or whatever exercise you may do- these activities do seem to be beneficial, even if it is only once a week. Or for those of you who may be a little leary of exercising after a heart attack, remember, it is actually more risky to do nothing than to be active. So stay active people!