Light physical activity related to reducing the risk of heart disease in older women

A new study found that a light physical activity such as gardening, walking around a park and folding clothes could be enough to significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in women aged 63 and over. According to the researchers, this type of activity appears to reduce up to 22% the risk of cardiovascular events such as stroke or heart failure, and the risk of heart attack or stroke. coronary death up to 42%.

The results of the study, funded by the National Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood (NHLBI), belonging to the National Institutes of Health, are published today in the journal JAMA Network open now.

"When we tell people to move with heart, we think it and the evidence to support it keeps growing," said David Goff, MD, Ph.D., director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at NHLBI. . "This study suggests that for older women, any movement contributes to better cardiovascular health." Goff added that the findings are consistent with the latest federal government guidelines on physical activity, which encourage as much as possible the replacement of sedentary behavior with light physical activity.

In this five-year prospective study, researchers followed more than 5,800 women aged 63 to 97 years to determine whether stronger light physical activity was badociated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease.

The connection was clear between all racial and ethnic groups, said study author, Andrea LaCroix, Ph.D., president of the Division of Epidemiology and director of the Center for Disease Control. Excellence for Women's Health from the University of California at San Diego.

"The higher the level of activity, the lower the risk," she said. "And the risk reduction has shown regardless of the general health status, functional ability or even age of women.In other words, the badociation with physical activity slight was apparent regardless of these other factors. "

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among American women, and older women suffer deeply: nearly 68% of women aged 60 to 79 suffer as do all older Americans. Of approximately 85.6 million adults with at least one type of cardiovascular disease, more than half are 60 years old or older.

This study focuses on a group of 5,861 women from 2012 to 2014 and ethnically and ethnically diverse. None of them had a history of myocardial infarction or stroke. The women were part of the NHLBI-funded Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health (OPACH) program, a sub-cohort of the Women's Health Initiative.

Participants carried hip-mounted accelerometers, a device similar to fitness monitoring, which measured their movements 24 hours a day for seven consecutive days. Accelerometers were also calibrated for their age to distinguish between light physical activity and moderate to vigorous physical activity – a detail of surveillance considered to be one of the study's main strengths. The researchers then followed the participants for nearly five years, following events of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study to study light physical activity measured by accelerometer in relation to fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease in older women," said LaCroix, who led OPACH study.

Previous studies were largely based on self-report questionnaires, but most people did not notice the researchers, do not think that folding their clothes or going to the mailbox is a physical activity.

"These questionnaires do not account for low-intensity movements accumulated in activities of daily living," LaCroix said. Even in her own OPACH findings, she noted, "there was no correlation between the amount of self-reported light physical activity and the amount we measured with accelerometers." Without accurate reporting, we risk updating activities. low-intensity benefits to heart health, "she said.

Researchers need to conduct large randomized trials to determine whether particular interventions might increase mild physical activity in older women and what effect this would have on cardiovascular disease rates. But the authors of OPACH said that they were encouraging this group to immediately increase their light physical activity.

Provided by
NIH / National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute