Long-term sedentary behavior may increase cardiovascular risk in older women

A new study showed that older women were sitting or lying down during one day – and the longer the individual periods of uninterrupted sitting were long – the greater the risk of cardiovascular disease such as heart disease and stroke was great. But reducing their sedentary time for an hour a day seems to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 12% – and by 26% for heart disease alone, according to the research. The study was funded by the National Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood (NHLBI), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

"This study provides further evidence of a link between sedentary behavior, such as sitting and lying down, which consumes very little energy, and cardiovascular disease," said David Goff, MD, Ph.D. ., Director, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, NHLBI. "Sedentary behaviors and inactivity are major risk factors for heart disease, and this research also shows that it's never too late, or too early, to move more and improve your heart health. "

In this five-year prospective study, researchers examined more than 5,000 women aged 63 to 97 and measured both total time spent each day they were sitting or lying down and the duration of separate sedentary periods. The results, published today in the journal Circulation, are significant.

"Higher amounts of sedentary periods and more sedentary periods were directly badociated with cardiovascular disease," said John Bellettiere, Ph.D., researcher in epidemiology of cardiovascular disease at the University of California at San Diego and author Main of the study. "It is important to note that the badociation is manifested regardless of a woman's general health, physical function and any other cardiovascular risk factor, including the fact that she is whether she also practiced moderate to vigorous physical activity. "

Of approximately 85.6 million adult Americans with at least one type of cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and stroke, 43.7 million of them are aged 60 or older. In fact, 67.9% of women aged 60 to 79 have cardiovascular disease; and heart disease is the leading cause of death for women 65 years and older.

Bellettière said the results could affect what health officials are communicating to older women about heart health. Getting up and moving, if only for a few more minutes during the day, could help reduce the already high rates of heart disease.

"Encouraging less sedentary periods and shorter sedentary access for older women could have significant benefits for public health," Bellettière said.

The research involved an ethnic group of 5,638 women, nearly half of whom were over the age of 80, enrolled between 2012 and 2014. None had a history of myocardial infarction or dementia. 39, 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.

At the beginning of the study, participants wore hip-mounted accelerometers that measured their movements 24 hours a day for seven consecutive days. Previous studies were largely based on self-badessment questionnaires; However, accelerometers have provided researchers with more accurate measures of sedentary time as a whole, as well as the duration of individual periods of sedentary time. This last point was important because it allowed, for the first time, to study whether sitting for long uninterrupted periods throughout the day would increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The researchers then followed the participants for nearly five years, following events of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes. They found that on average, an additional hour of sedentary total time was badociated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease by 12%. When this time spent sitting consisted of long, uninterrupted, sedentary sessions, the risk was 52% higher than at the time of accumulation. in short, periods of sedentarity regularly interrupted.

However, just as the risk of heart disease can increase with more sitting and sedentary ones, it can be reduced by getting up and moving, if only a little bit, and by doing so often throughout the day, have discovered the researchers.

"Sedentary time reductions do not necessarily have to happen at the same time," said Andrea LaCroix, Ph.D., president of the Division of Epidemiology and director of the Center of Excellence for Women's Health. from the University of California San Diego, who led the OPACH study. "I recommend to all women who, like me, are over 60, to make a conscious effort to interrupt our session by getting up and moving as often as possible."

Provided by
NIH / National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute