A review of the literature published in the journal Circulation once again demonstrates the benefits of exercise in lowering the risk of heart disease. The key finding were that people "who engaged in the equivalent of 150 min/wk of moderate-intensity leisure-time physical activity (minimum amount, 2008 US federal guidelines) had a 14% lower coronary heart disease risk (relative risk, 0.86; 95% confidence interval, 0.77 to 0.96) compared with those reporting no leisure-time physical activity. Those engaging in the equivalent of 300 min/wk of moderate-intensity leisure-time physical activity (2008 US federal guidelines for additional benefits) had a 20% (relative risk, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.74 to 0.88) lower risk. At higher levels of physical activity, relative risks were modestly lower. People who were physically active at levels lower than the minimum recommended amount also had significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease. There was a significant interaction by sex (P=0.03); the association was stronger among women than men."
The bottom line is that moderate physical activity will lower your risk of heart disease and that no amount of activity is too little to help. The optimal amount of activity would seem to be about 45 minutes per day. And the effects of exercise were particularly effective for women.
Your Los Angeles Women's Cardiologist
