After a heart attack, it is necessary to resume doing sport or to start doing it
Published 15 May 2018
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Paris, 19 April 2018 (AFP) – According to a new study presented before the European Cardiology Society, a person who survived a heart attack should get back to doing sport or take up a physical activity, rather than stay inactive.
The author of the study, Prof Dr Orjan Ekblom, has calculated that “becoming physically active after a myocardial infarction (heart attack) divides the risk of dying within the following four years by two”. This observation came from having monitored about 22,000 Swedish people, aged 18 to 74, during the four years that followed their heart attack. “It is well known that people who are physically active have lower risk of having a heart attack and higher chances of living longer”, noted Prof Ekblom from Stockholm School of Sport and Health Sciences.
"However, we were not familiar with the incidence of physical exercise among heart attack survivors", he added. On average, during the 4 years following the infraction, the mortality rate was at 2,82% per year among people who were not involved in any physical activity, while it was at 1,14% per year among those who have “increased their physical activity level”.
The lowest mortality rate was reported among people who had already been doing sport and who continued doing it (0,75% per year). This rate was significantly lower than the one among those who “reduced their physical activity level” (1,27% per year). “Doing exercise two or more times a week should be automatically recommended to patients having suffered a heart attack”, says Prof Ekblom, quoted in the press release by European Cardiology Society who held a congress on cardiovascular prevention in Ljubljana. However, he added that “more research is needed to find out if there is a particular physical activity that could be especially beneficial.”
AFP (Agence France Presse)
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