Lack of exercise is more damaging to the heart than smoking

For women over the age of 30, physical inactivity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease than smoking and obesity

09/05/2014

Physical inactivity, obesity and smoking are among the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. An Australian study recently looked at which of these factors has the greatest impact on women's health. As it turned out, the influence of risk factors is age-dependent. While smoking is considered to be particularly problematic in younger people, women over 30 of their health are most affected by lack of exercise.

Which risk factor favors cardiovascular diseases the most ?
In Germany, cardiovascular diseases are number one among the causes of death. Each year, about 40 percent of all deaths are due to illnesses such as a heart attack and stroke. These numbers are also particularly tragic because cardiovascular diseases can often be prevented by a healthy lifestyle. Smoking, lack of exercise and obesity promote hypertension and other diseases that often end in death.

An Australian study recently looked at the impact of each risk factor to find out how such a disease can be prevented most effectively. „Current estimates suggest that a high body mass index (BMI), smoking, high blood pressure and physical inactivity are the main risk factors for the overall disease burden in Australia“, Write Wendy Brown and her colleagues from the University of Queensland, St. Lucia, in the journal „Based on data from an Australian long-term study on women's health with women between the ages of 22 and 90 years, the researchers found the highest risk factors for each age group and lifetime for heart disease From the long-term study, the women's weekly exercise, height and weight and body mass index (BMI) were also reported, and the participants had indicated whether they were smokers.

For young women, smoking is the main risk factor
According to the researchers, the data analysis has shown that the risk factor has a varying importance over the lifespan. For example, in the age group of 22 to 27 year olds smoking was the decisive risk factor for heart disease. For women between the ages of 85 and 90 years, high BMI and high blood pressure were the main risk factors. However, for the lifespan between 31 and 90 years of age, overall, lack of exercise was the clearest risk factor over all others, according to Wendy Brown and colleagues. Up to 81 percent of the respondents stated here in individual age groups that according to their own assessment they do not move enough.

Lack of exercise over the life span most common cause of heart disease
The researchers see the lack of exercise as an important starting point to reduce the risk of heart disease in general. If all women were physically active for at least one and a half hours per week, more than half of their heart disease could be prevented. Even moderate physical activity, such as swimming or gardening, is enough to have a positive effect. The current study results prove that „Programs promoting and maintaining physical activity deserve a much higher priority than they currently have“, so the conclusion of the scientists. Physical inactivity is clearly underestimated as a risk factor for heart disease in relation to smoking or a high BMI. (Fp)