Teen Fitness May Guard Against Heart Attacks Later In Life: Study

Teen Fitness May Guard Against Heart Attacks Later In Life: Study

Article
Heart & Vascular Health
Teen Health
+1
Contributed byMaulik P. Purohit MD MPHApr 15, 2017

A new study published in the European Heart Journal found that people who are aerobically fit as teenagers are less likely to have a heart attack by middle age. Peter Nordstrom and colleagues evaluated the 743,498 Swedish men who had medical examinations and aerobic fitness measured at the age of 18 before going into the military between 1969 and 1984. They were followed for an average of 34 years until the late January 1, 2011.

Their study found that every 15 percent increase in aerobic fitness in their teen years has been associated with an 18 percent risk reduction of heart attack 30 to 40 years later.

Also, the results suggest that teens and young adults who undergo regular cardiovascular training have a 35 percent reduced risk of heart attack later in life. Lead researcher Peter Nordstrom of Umea University in Sweden believes aerobic fitness as a teen shows to even help people who become obese in life.

"It should be noted that aerobic fitness decreased the risk of heart attack significantly within also overweight and obese men," Nordstrom said. Obese men who had the highest aerobic fitness as teens experienced a 60 percent lower risk of heart attack compared with obese men who had the least fitness.

However, obese men with high aerobic fitness still had a higher risk of heart attack than lean men with little aerobic fitness. This study did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship, but did find an association between aerobic fitness and heart disease risk.

Also, confounding factors were not investigated in this study. For example, some people may have a genetic tendency to both high physical fitness and low risk of heart disease. "Our study suggests that it's more important not to be overweight or obese than to be fit, but that it's even better to be both fit and a normal weight”, Nordstrom added.

Additional Resource:

http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/01/06/eurheartj.eht527.full?sid=60062051-682a-46b3-836b-011bf1f2ba29

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Maulik P. Purohit MD MPH

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