According to new research, those who spend their days lethargic after a heart-related crisis like a heart attack or neck pain may be at greater risk of a second cardiovascular event or even dying within a year than those who barely move.
The , study   found that switching to 30 minutes of light-intensity physical activity for 30 minutes could reduce the risk of having another cardiovascular event or dying by 50 %. With the same number of moderate to vigorous physical activity, the risk may be reduced by up to 61 %. The results were reported in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Benefits of the American Heart Association.
In a , a media release from Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, lead creator Dr. Keith Diaz, an associate professor of behavioural treatments, said,” Current treatment recommendations focus primarily on motivating people to exercise regularly.” We looked into whether sedentary time itself may contribute to cardiovascular risk in our study.
Prior research by the same team revealed that those who had a heart attack were known to spend up to 13 hours each day being sedentary, which is defined as having little to no physical movement when they were awake.
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center’s emergency department analyzed data on health, sleep, and physical activity for 609 adults between the ages of 21 and 96. For a median of 30 days following hospital discharge, physical activity was monitored using wrist accelerometers.
To better understand the intensity of movement beyond what a person could recall, the devices measured movement in three directions: forward and backward, side to side, and up and down. Examples of moderate-intensity physical activities included swimming, water aerobics, dancing, tennis, tennis, and gardening. Running, swimming, heavy yard work, singles tennis, and jumping rope were among the high-intensity activities.
On average, those in the most physically active group experienced 143.8 minutes of moderate to vigorous daily physical activity, 11.7 hours of sedentary behavior, and 8.4 hours of sleep. On average, those in the least physically active group engaged in 82.2 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day, 22.7 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity, 15.6 hours of sedentary behavior, and 6. 6 hours of sleep.
Phone surveys, electronic health records, and the Social Security Death Index were used to find out whether any cardiac events or deaths of any kind had occurred up until a year after hospital discharge.
The least active participants were 2.5 times as likely as the most active to have a heart attack, undergo surgery to treat heart conditions, be hospitalized once more, or pass away within a year of their first cardiac event.
Additionally, getting more sleep reduced the risk of developing cardiovascular disease or dying. The risk was reduced by 14 % when the risk was swapping 30 minutes of sedentary behavior for 30 minutes of sleep.
According to Diaz, a certified exercise physiologist,” we were surprised that combining sleep and sedentary time reduced risk.” Sleeping is a restorative behavior that aids the body and mind in recovering, which is particularly important after a serious medical condition like a heart attack.
About 8 % of the participants in the follow-up period experienced another cardiac event or passed away.
According to Diaz, the findings demonstrate that one doesn’t need to begin running marathons after a cardiovascular event to experience benefits. ” Being a little less active, moving, or sleeping in more can make a real difference.”
According to Dr. Bethany Barone Gibbs, even simple tasks like cleaning up the house or a quick stroll were “nearly as beneficial as moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activities, like biking or doing aerobics.” She serves as the chair of West Virginia University’s Morgantown School of Public Health’s department of epidemiology and biostatistics.
According to Barone Gibbs, who was not involved in the study, the study provides more support for a” sit less, move more” approach for people who have had a heart attack and especially those who may have barriers to more intense exercise.
These findings suggest that staying healthier means doing more of what you can, such as going for a walk, cooking, playing with your dog, or gardening.
___
American Heart Association, Inc. 2025
Tribune Content Agency, LLC distributed.
