Physical activity has shown to be associated with reduced risks of coronary heart disease and stroke. Studies have also suggested that physical activity is associated with heart failure development.

Aim

This study investigated if total physical activity, as well as different types of physical activity, were associated with heart failure risk.

Results

Walking or bicycling 20 min/day was associated with the largest risk reduction of congestive heart failure (CHF), and men who had the lowest and highest level of activity had a higher risk of CHF than those who exercised at a moderate or medium level of intensity.  When looking at long-term behavior of walking/bicycling, the results suggested a trend toward more recent active behavior being more related to heart failure protection than past physical activity levels.

Conclusion

The results of this study suggest that moderate amount of physical activity is optimal for prevention of heart failure as both lower and very high levels of activity was associated with an increased risk as compared to medium activity.

Reference