For Heart Attack Survivors, More Exercise Isn't Always Better, Study Says
For Heart Attack Survivors, More Exercise Isn't Always Better, Study Says
Excessive walking, running may lose protective effect
TUESDAY, Aug. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Heart attack survivors are encouraged to exercise regularly to improve their cardiac health, but new research suggests there's a point of diminishing returns.
"More isn't always better," said study researcher Paul Williams, staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif.
Williams tracked nearly 2,400 heart attack survivors from his long-term study of runners and walkers for about 10 years. In general, increased exercise reduced their risk of dying from a heart attack by up to 65 percent, he said.
But running more than 30 miles a week or walking beyond 46 miles weekly had the opposite effect, more than doubling heart attack risk, the study found.
Over the decade-long study, 526 people died, nearly three-quarters because of heart attacks and heart disease.
Because the study was limited to heart attack survivors, Williams can't say if the findings would apply to healthy adults who exercise intensively.
The heart attack survivors who exercised excessively were in the minority, with only 6 percent surpassing 30 miles of running or 46 miles walking a week, the study found.
For the majority of participants, increasing exercise but remaining within moderate limits significantly reduced the risk of heart-related deaths, Williams found.
The results aren't surprising, experts said.
The study shows "you don't have to do a lot of exercise to get a lot of benefit" from a health standpoint, said Dr. Carl Lavie, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and preventive cardiology at the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, New Orleans.
According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise is advised.
"Exceeding the recommendation is better than meeting the recommendation" for reducing risk of heart disease death in heart attack survivors, Williams said, but only to the points he found.
He isn't sure why those who exercised at the highest levels had an increased risk of heart attack death. Nor can he say if the results would apply to activities other than walking or running.
After Heart Attack, More Exercise Not Always Better
Excessive walking, running may lose protective effect
TUESDAY, Aug. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Heart attack survivors are encouraged to exercise regularly to improve their cardiac health, but new research suggests there's a point of diminishing returns.
"More isn't always better," said study researcher Paul Williams, staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif.
Williams tracked nearly 2,400 heart attack survivors from his long-term study of runners and walkers for about 10 years. In general, increased exercise reduced their risk of dying from a heart attack by up to 65 percent, he said.
But running more than 30 miles a week or walking beyond 46 miles weekly had the opposite effect, more than doubling heart attack risk, the study found.
Over the decade-long study, 526 people died, nearly three-quarters because of heart attacks and heart disease.
Because the study was limited to heart attack survivors, Williams can't say if the findings would apply to healthy adults who exercise intensively.
The heart attack survivors who exercised excessively were in the minority, with only 6 percent surpassing 30 miles of running or 46 miles walking a week, the study found.
For the majority of participants, increasing exercise but remaining within moderate limits significantly reduced the risk of heart-related deaths, Williams found.
The results aren't surprising, experts said.
The study shows "you don't have to do a lot of exercise to get a lot of benefit" from a health standpoint, said Dr. Carl Lavie, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and preventive cardiology at the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, New Orleans.
According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise is advised.
"Exceeding the recommendation is better than meeting the recommendation" for reducing risk of heart disease death in heart attack survivors, Williams said, but only to the points he found.
He isn't sure why those who exercised at the highest levels had an increased risk of heart attack death. Nor can he say if the results would apply to activities other than walking or running.
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