Physical Activity and the Heart
- Reduces Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) :
- Cardiovascular Disease is one of the main causes of premature death in the UK. In 2002, CVD caused over 67,000 premature deaths. 35% of premature deaths in men and 27% of premature deaths in women are from CVD.
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) by itself is the single most common cause
of death in the UK, accounting for 22% of premature deaths in men and
13% of premature deaths in women.
- Improved cardio-respiratory fitness through regular physical activity decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality in general and coronary heart disease mortality in particular.
- Individuals who are active are 1.9 times less likely to have a heart attack than their inactive contemporaries.
Helps prevent or reduce Hypertension:
It is estimated that 14% of deaths from CHD in men and 12% of deaths
from CHD in women are due to raised blood pressure. According to
the Health Survey for England 37% of men and 34% of women have
hypertension.
- Regular physical activity prevents or delays the development of high blood pressure.
- Regular physical activity helps to reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in individuals with elevated blood pressure by approximately 6-7 mmHg.
SOURCES:
- The strongest evidence indicates that the greatest benefit of physical activity is in the reduction of CVD risk – Berlin JA, Colditz G. A meta-analysis of physical activity in the prevention of coronary heart disease. American Journal of Epidemiology, 1990, 132:612-628. See also Powell KE et al. Physical Activity and the incidence of coronary heart disease. Annual Review of Public Health, 1987, 8:253-287.
- British Heart Foundation (2004) Coronary heart disease statistics: BHF statistics database 2002. London: British Heart Foundation
- US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, The Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. (1996) Physical Activity and Health: A report of the Surgeon General. Pittsburg: CDC.
- Blair, S.N. et al. (1992) How much physical activity is good for health? Annual Review of Public Health, 13, 99-126.
- Hypertension is defined here as a systolic blood pressure of 140mmHg or over, or a diastolic blood pressure of 90mmHg or over).
- Department of Health (2002). Health Survey for England 2002 Trend Data. See Department of Health website: http://www.publications.doh.gov.uk/stats/trends1.htm
