Even a slight improvement in fitness has a major impact on the risk of heart attack

How can we easily protect ourselves from a heart attack??

At the present time, stress and too little exercise in more and more people lead to dangerous cardiovascular diseases, such as a heart attack or angina pectoris. Physicians have now found that even slightly improved cardiorespiratory fitness is enough to protect against such diseases.

The scientists of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found in their current study that our cardiorespiratory fitness has a significant impact on the risk of heart attacks and angina pectoris. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "European Heart Journal".

Study with more than 4,500 subjects

For their study, the experts examined the cardiorespiratory (cardiopulmonary) fitness of just over 4,500 men and women in Norway. None of the subjects suffered from heart disease, high blood pressure or cancer. The health risk during the next ten years of the participants was classified as low.

Improved cardiorespiratory fitness lowered risk

However, by 2017, 147 of the participants suffered a myocardial infarction or angina pectoris caused by a narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries. Finally, further examinations showed that the risk of myocardial infarction and angina pectoris steadily decreased with increasing cardiorespiratory fitness, explain the scientists. In the years after the measurements, a strong correlation between a higher fitness level and a lower risk of heart attacks and angina pectoris was found, explain the authors of the study.

How did improved fitness work??

Even among those who seemed healthy, the top 25 percent of the fittest participants were at half the risk of the least 25 percent, says study author Bjarne Nes of the Cardiac Exercise Research Group (CERG) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The study used a fitness calculator that measures the body's capacity to transport and use oxygen during exercise. It turned out that with every increase in fitness by 3.5 points, the risk of heart attacks and angina decreased by 15 percent.

Use training as a kind of preventive medicine

The study suggests that even a slight improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness can improve heart health. The results should encourage people to use training as a preventive medicine. Regular exercise that gets you out of breath might be an effective strategy for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, says study author Jon Magne Letnes of the University of Science and Technology. (As)