Regular exercise can greatly reduce healthcare costs

Exercise or exercise reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease
Are you one of those people who are hard to motivate for sports and physical training? Perhaps it helps to know that regular exercise or moderate exercise significantly reduces the cost of healthcare. Especially people with cardiovascular diseases benefit greatly from the regular exercise. Researchers found that through exercise and physical activity, they both improve your health and reduce the cost of healthcare.

Researchers at the Center for Healthcare Advancement and Outcomes at Baptist Health South Florida found that regular exercise or moderate exercise can significantly reduce the cost of healthcare. The experts published the findings in the journal of the "American Heart Association".

Sufficient exercise is good for our health. Researchers now found that patients with cardiovascular disease should urgently move more. In this way they improve their health and save on healthcare costs. (Image: contrastwerkstatt / fotolia.com)

Physical activity significantly reduces the costs of health care
If heart disease patients undergo moderate or strenuous physical activity for 30 minutes at least five times a week, this process lowers the annual health care costs by more than $ 2,500 (about $ 1,222), the researchers say. The financial benefits of regular exercise span the entire gamut of risk for known cardiovascular disease, explains author. Khurram Nasir of the Center for Healthcare Advancement and Outcomes at Baptist Health South Florida.

Regular moderate exercise significantly reduces the risk of death
For the preservation of cardiovascular health, the American Heart Association recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity five days a week, explain the physicians. Alternatively, people may perform vigorous aerobic activity three days a week for at least 25 minutes. Of course, a combination of both methods will work, the experts add. Other studies had previously shown that even moderate exercise regularly reduces the risk of death significantly.

What do we mean by moderate or vigorous aerobic activity?
The moderate activity normally causes the formation of only small amounts of sweat. Respiration and heart rate also increase only moderately, explain the authors. Moderate activity includes, for example, faster walking or mowing. A vigorous aerobic activity includes running or running, swimming or aerobics.

Physicians study more than 26,000 subjects in their study
Although there is a clear correlation between increased activity and fewer complications and deaths from heart disease, about two thirds of patients with heart disease do not get the recommended amount of physical activity. To assess the financial impact of increased physical activity on patients, researchers looked at data from a nationwide survey of more than 26,000 adults in the US. A total of 1,896 subjects (9 percent) had a cardiovascular disease. Among subjects without heart disease, 49 percent reported adequate weekly exercise. In people with cardiovascular disease, the value was only 32 percent.

High costs due to hospital admissions or stays in emergency rooms
Patients with cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia, or peripheral arterial disease cause significantly higher healthcare costs. By regularly engaging in physical activity, these subjects lower their average healthcare costs by more than $ 2,500. These costs are usually incurred through hospitalizations and stays in emergency rooms, Dr. Nasir.

More physical activity could save up to € 5.3 billion annually
Study participants were divided into groups according to the number of cardiovascular risk factors. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and obesity, the researchers explain. The results of the study suggest that it would make a big difference if only 20 percent of patients with cardiovascular disease regularly performed more physical activity. This would reduce the annual health care costs by as much as € 5.3 billion. Nazir.

People with cardiovascular disease should generally move more
The results of the study show us that it is never too late to start with sports or physical activity. Also, people with cardiovascular disease should not give up physical activity to gain the health benefits of exercise or exercise. However, before starting a program of increased activity, sufferers should seek advice from their doctor first, experts suggest. (As)