A study
by Koohass et al published in the European
Journal of Preventive Cardiology reports that exercise contributes
immensely in the protection of the cardiovascular system.
The investigators followed a cohort of 5,344 for15-years
(median 10 years). Their ages ranged
between 55 and 97, and none of the participants had heart disease at the
beginning of the study. During the study period 866 (16.2%) of the participants
experienced a cardiovascular (CVD) event. Overweight and obese participants
with low physical activity had a higher CVD risk than normal weight
participants with high physical activity. Overweight and obese participants
with high physical activity did not show a higher CVD risk.
Their findings suggest that there is no link
between the body mass index (BMI) alone and heart disease, but found that
physical activity was tied to a lower risk of heart disease, regardless of BMI.
The authors concluded that physical
activity has a beneficial impact of on our cardiovascular system and outweighs
the negative impact of BMI among middle-aged and elderly individuals.
