Hearty activity
Few studies have been done in support of the popular medical opinion that physical activity reduces occurrence of chronic diseases. Now, a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (Vol 165, No 20, November, 2005), quantifies the positive effect of physical activity on cardiovascular health.
A team of scientists from the Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, analysed data collected by the Framingham heart study on 5,209 residents of Framingham, Massachusetts, the US, over the past 46 years.
The Dutch study found life expectancy for sedentary people aged above 50 was 1.5 years less than for people following moderate levels of physical activity and about 3.5 years shorter than for people with high levels of physical activity. "The extra years (for those following active lifestyles) will be enjoyed without suffering the deleterious consequences of cardiovascular disease,' says Oscar H Franco, the lead researcher. The study, however, ignored other risk factors of cardiovascular disease such as diet, alcohol consumption and aspirin intake.