Heart Failure Risk in Men Lowers With Exercise, Study Finds

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Moderation seems to be the key to reducing men's risk of heart failure in the future, according to a study published on Aug. 12 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure.

Rahman, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and one of the researchers in the study said: "We found both high and low extreme levels of total physical activity to be associated with an increased risk of heart failure." 

According to Philly, the study revealed that exercising over an hour every week decreased the risk of heart failure in men by 14 percent. The researchers of the study also discovered that the risk of heart failure was 69 percent higher in men who were the least physically active. 

Even more surprising, however, was that there was a 31-percent higher risk of developing heart failure among men who participated in highly intense workout sessions.

Researchers also enumerated which forms of physical activity decreased the risk of heart failure more. They found that walking and biking, in particular, reduced the risk of heart failure the most compared to other types of physical activity. The authors of the study noted that even walking or biking for 20 minutes a day did a world of good, reports CBS News. 

For the study, the researchers observed over 33,000 men from 1997 to 2012, or up until the men experienced their first heart failure event, reports Philly. All the men were at the average age of 60. 

In 1997 and 1998, the participants were asked to complete a survey which asked them to recall their exercise habits the year before and when they were age 30. After 13 years, more than 3,600 of the participants had their first heart failure event, 419 of which died. 

After observation, the researchers discovered that moderate exercise decreased heart failure risk more than intense or low levels of physical activity. Furthermore, they concluded that recent exercise habits effected the overall health of men rather than their habits in the past. 

So, even if a man lived a healthy lifestyle at 30 and then stopped, his risk of heart failure would still increase at a later age. Apparently the key to decreasing the risk of heart failure is not only moderation, but also consistency. 

Steve Keteyian, director of preventive cardiology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, noted that the study has not found a cause and effect relationship between moderate physical activity and decreased heart failure, only a link. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a cardiology professor from the University of California, said another similar research, which included women, had the same results as Rahman's study.

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