Sedentary Lifestyle - Recognizing And Reducing Risk Factors: Heart Disease

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Sedentary lifestyle

Only one in three American adults regularly engages in any kind of leisure-time physical activity. The reasons are many, but certainly the advent of labor-saving devices and the lure of television and the Internet are taking their toll — along with harried lives that leave little time for exercise. Yet it is clear that physical activity is a good investment of time when it comes to protecting your heart. Sedentary living roughly doubles the risk for coronary artery disease, making it as risky as smoking, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.

Fortunately, more than 50 years of research shows that the people who are the most physically active are only half as likely to develop coronary artery disease as the most sedentary people. And the benefits accrue in a dose-response manner: The more physically active you are, the lower your risk for heart disease. What's more, regular physical activity not only prevents heart disease, it also helps alleviate problems such as high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol. Exercise raises HDL cholesterol levels, reduces triglycerides, lowers blood pressure, burns body fat, and lowers blood sugar levels. When combined with weight loss, exercise can also lower LDL levels. It also helps alleviate mental stress, which can be a trigger for heart problems. Following a heart attack, an exercise-based rehabilitation program can reduce the likelihood of dying from heart disease by one-third. (For tips on how to add exercise to your life, see "Get active.")

Last updated:	May 03, 2007