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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Should You Run For Your Life? It has long been known that exercise could prolong life if one has at least 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. But a new study found that the risk of heart disease and stroke could greatly be reduced if one can run as little as 30 to 60 minutes a week (or just 5 to 10 minutes a day), regardless of how fast one runs. Compared to non-runners, runners of any kind had a 30 percent lower risk of mortality from all causes and a 45 percent lower risk of death from heart attack or stroke, with a 3-year life expectancy benefit, as reported by the study. Findings of the study were published in the August 2014’s issue of the ‘Journal of the American College of Cardiology’ by the researchers from the University of Queensland School of Medicine, New Orleans and other institutions. Coca-Cola Co and The National Institutes of Health funded the study. 55,137 adults aged between 18 and 100 were followed at the beginning of the study for an average of 15 years. The participants visited the Cooper Clinic and Cooper Institute in Dallas for medical examinations and completed health questionnaires that included questions about how they exercise, for instance, if they regularly ran and how far and fast they ran. Approximately 24 percent of the participants were runners.
At the outset of the study, none of the participants reported having a heart attack, a stroke, or cancer. By the end of the study, 3,413 volunteers had died, 1,217 of them from heart attack or stroke. Those who ran even a little bit were less at risk. Researchers did take into account participants’ smoking and drinking habits, how old they were when they enrolled in the study, their family’s health history and their other exercise habits. Roughly 13,000 runners were divided into 5 groups based on how many minutes they ran per week. Those in the lowest group ran up to 50 minutes over a 7-day period, and those in the highest group ran for more than 175 minutes over the course of a week. But the benefits of running were more or less the same for all runners. The running was also measured in other ways: by total weekly distance, frequency, speed and the total amount of running, which was calculated by multiplying duration and speed. In all categories, even the runners in the lowest groups were less likely to die during the study than the non-runners. Cutting of the risk of premature death just required 30 to 59 minutes of running per week, and based on these results, the researchers argued that even running less than 6 miles per week, running less than 1 hour per week at paces less than 6 miles per hour were still able to produce very substantial reduction in cardiovascular mortality. While the observational study did not prove that low levels of running could make the heart healthier, according to experts not involved in the study, it is undoubtedly that doing away the sedentary lifestyle, for example beginning and staying with a low level running program, can certainly have important health benefits. In fact, it might only take minimal activity to alter the way human bodies behave, and small amounts of exercise are sufficient to wake the bodies from hibernation mode. For people who cannot devote 15 to 20 minutes to moderate physical activity on a daily basis might appreciate the efficiency of a 5-minute run. It is hoped that the new findings might motivate healthy but sedentary individuals to start and continue running for substantial and attainable mortality benefits. Nevertheless, people who has never run in the past or has health issues should consult a doctor before embarking a running program. After starting running and trying for a solid 5 minutes and just do not enjoy running, they should switch to other activities, like vigorously pedaling a stationary bike.
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