Movement after a heart attack significantly increases life expectancy

What causes physical activity after a heart attack?

If people have suffered a heart attack, then they must pay particular attention to their health. Researchers now found that physical activity halves the risk of dying after a heart attack within four years.

Scientists at the Swedish School of Sports and Health Sciences and Gothenburg University have found in their current research that increased activity after a heart attack halves the likelihood of dying within the next four years. The physicians publish the results of their study at this year's European Society of Cardiology Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

If people have suffered a heart attack, they should then increase their physical activity in order to protect themselves from premature death. (Image: ARochau / fotolia.com)

More than 22,000 participants were examined

For their study, the experts examined a total of more than 22,000 subjects. The researchers analyzed whether increased activity after a heart attack can protect against premature death. In fact, scientists found that participants who were more physically active after a heart attack had a 50% chance of dying within the next four years.

How does exercise affect people with heart attacks??

It is well known that physically active people are less likely to have a heart attack and live longer, explains study author Dr. Örjan Ekblom from the Swedish School of Sports and Health Sciences told The Times. However, it was not known how exercise affects people after a heart attack. So the scientists studied the connection between physical activity and survival after a heart attack. The participants in the study came from Sweden and all had suffered a so-called myocardial infarction between 2005 and 2013.

Participants were interviewed about their physical activity

During the study, physical activity was reported six to ten weeks and twelve months after a heart attack. Based on the differences between the answers obtained, it was possible to determine the changes in physical activity in the year after the cardiac infarction. On both occasions, patients were asked how many times the participants had trained for a period of 30 minutes or more during the previous seven days. Patients were then either categorized as constantly inactive, reduced activity, increased activity or constantly active.

How much reduced movement prematurely dying the risk?

During the average medical follow-up period of 4.2 years, a total of 1,087 subjects died. The researchers analyzed the relationship between the four categories of physical activity and death after adjusting for factors such as age, gender, smoking, and clinical factors. Compared to patients who were constantly inactive, the risk of death was 37 percent, 51 percent, and 59 percent lower for patients in the categories of reduced activity, increased activity, or consistently active.

Patients should become physically active after a heart attack

The results of the study show that patients can reduce their risk of premature death by becoming physically active after a heart attack, explains Drs. Ekblom. If patients were physically active for six to ten weeks after a heart attack, but then became inactive again, they still benefit from the additional exercise. Of course, the benefits to active people are even greater if they remain physically active.

This advice should be taken care of

The study provides additional clues for medical professionals and policy makers Ekblom. These should systematically promote physical activity in heart attack patients. Exercises that are performed twice or more a week should be automatically recommended for heart attack patients as well as advised to quit smoking, improve nutrition, and reduce stress, the expert adds. The results of the study show that this advice applies to all heart attack patients.

Further research is needed

The study did not examine in more detail what type of exercise patients performed. Therefore, more research is needed to find out if there is any type of activity that is particularly beneficial after a heart attack, study author Dr. Ekblom added. (As)