Moderate Exercise May Lower Heart Failure Risk in Men

Earlier this year, exercise was said to be "the miracle cure" by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in England.

Researchers reviewed over two hundred studies on exercise and found surprising evidence of its multiple health benefits.

We can now add another study - one published in the August edition of the Journal of American College of Cardiology - to the growing list.

The study followed more than thirty-three thousand older men (average age of sixty) from 1988 to 2012.

Researchers learned men who exercised moderately for twenty or thirty minutes a day - walking or cycling - reduced their risk of heart failure by twenty-one percent, when compared to those who were the most inactive.

On a different note, men who were the most active increased their risk of heart failure by almost a third, when compared to the moderately active group.

The researchers believe this is due to the stress that high levels of activity may put on the body or abnormalities in heart functioning, caused by extreme activity.

"The majority of cases of heart failure are preventable. Along with exercise, other healthy strategies include keeping blood pressure and cholesterol at normal levels, keeping a healthy body weight and not smoking." - Dr. Gregg Fonarow, professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles

How much moderate exercise do you get every day?

P.S. Since the study did not include women, the researchers cannot say if exercise also benefits them.

However, according to Dr. Fonarow, another recent study found "the benefits were similar for women and men, and by type of exercise."