Exercising More, Sitting Less Reduces Heart Failure Risk in Men

The study supports the American Heart Association recommendation that people get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity to reduce their risk for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, Young said.

I have written two posts on the subject of sitting and your health. The first Sitting can be hazardous to your health and longevity, last December and the second The sitting and rising test gives clues to how long your might live.

Tony

Cooking with Kathy Man

Sitting for long periods increases heart failure risk in men, even for those who exercise regularly, according to new research published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure.

Preventing heart failure, researchers found, requires a two-part behavioral approach: high levels of physical activity plus low levels of sedentary time. The study is the first to examine the link between heart failure risk and sedentary time, said Deborah Rohm Young, Ph.D., lead researcher and a senior scientist at Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena, Calif.

“Be more active and sit less. That’s the message here,” Young said.

Researchers followed a racially diverse group of 84,170 men ages 45 to 69 without heart failure. Exercise levels were calculated in METs, or metabolic equivalent of task, a measure of the body’s energy use. Sedentary levels were measured in hours. After an average of nearly eight years of follow-up, researchers found: