Sunday, August 29, 2010

Heavy physical activity may significantly reduce heart disease deaths, especially after age 45

This post has been revised and re-published. The original comments are preserved below.

Posted by Ned Kock at 5:50 AM
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7 comments:

Michael said...

I would have to dig it up, but IIRC Fred "Dr. Squat" Hatfield commented on some studies in his book on strength training which demonstrated that heavy lifting (i.e. squats and similar movements) is very protective against heart disease with no added cardio.

August 29, 2010 at 8:18 AM
chuck said...

I heard it said that sprinting for a few minutes a day, is more beneficial to the heart that hours of walking, is that a myth, or is backed up by scientific studies?

Also, does exercising *REVERSE* years of inactivity, or does it simply halt the the progression of coronary disease? Although not exactly defined, I'm assuming heart disease means arterial plaques?

August 29, 2010 at 9:14 AM
Ned Kock said...

Hi Michael, thanks. I wouldn't be surprised, even though most health markers (e.g., SBP, HDL, resting heart rate) seem to respond better to endurance exercise.

August 29, 2010 at 5:56 PM
Ned Kock said...

Hi chuck.

Re. sprinting, that would be consistent with the results of this study. Not really a myth, even though walking is also a very good exercise.

August 29, 2010 at 5:57 PM
Ned Kock said...

Heavy activity can reverse the damage to a certain extent, but with a CAD dignosis one should be careful. The chance of sudden cardiac arrest in those with CAD goes up a lot.

August 29, 2010 at 5:59 PM
Anonymous said...

A friend of mine, age 65, "died" after a strenuous weightlifting session. I put died in quotes because while his heart stopped and he collapsed his wife, who was with him when it happened, was able to perform CPR until the EMT's got there, which changed the outcome from death to life. He spent some time in the ICU but now, months later, he has no permanent heart damage and has been released for exercise with no restrictions! I bring this up to ask the question - is there a metric out there on strenuous exercise contributing to surviving a heart attack? (He had been doing heavy weightlifting for some years before the event - did this strengthen his heart and affect the ultimate outcome?)

August 30, 2010 at 3:09 PM
Ned Kock said...

Hi Anon.

This is an interesting story. I wonder if what he had was a heart attack (myocardial infarction, where heart cells die) or something else, like a seizure?

The data on this post suggests a protective effect of heavy physical activity, but I am not sure it would be enough to reverse the negative effects of a MI.

August 30, 2010 at 4:05 PM

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