Regular exercise important for heart health, longevity

Regular physical activity reduces a person's risk of death from cardiovascular disease -- a disease of the heart or blood vessels, said a new study.

Small amount of physical activities, including standing, are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, but more exercise leads to even greater reduction in risk of death from cardiovascular disease, the study revealed.

"The greatest benefit is to simply exercise, regardless of the intensity, while the danger is two-fold -- to not exercise at all or to exercise intensely, without due preparation," said Valentin Fuster, JACC Editor-in-Chief of American College of Cardiology in Washington, US.

Increasing the amount of moderate intensity exercise, a person engages in results in increased reductions in cardiovascular disease mortality, the finding revealed.

In this report, the researchers examined recent studies on the volume and intensity of aerobic exercise required for favourable cardiovascular health.

With the rise in participation in endurance races over the past three decades, they also addressed the question of whether or not there is an amount of exercise that increases cardiovascular disease risk.

"The available evidence should prompt clinicians to recommend strongly low and moderate exercise training for the majority of our patients," said Michael Scott Emery, co-chair of the American College of Cardiology Sports and Exercise Cardiology Council.

"Equally important are initiatives to promote population health at large through physical activity across the life span, as it modulates behaviour from childhood into adult life," he added.

The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.