To avoid a second heart attack, the movement is essential

Any reduction in the session has dropped the risk of a second heart attack

Investigators followed additional cardiac events and deaths for one year and analyzed the data according to the quantity of people who moved, seated and slept.

Study key results:

• The least active people had more than double the risk of having another heart problem or dying within one year, compared to the most active.
• Exchanging 30 minutes to sit every day by a moderate activity to vigorous (such as a fast walk or a bicycle) lowered the risk of 61%.
• Exchanging 30 minutes to sit every day with a light activity (such as slow walking or household chores) reduced the risk by 50%.
• Replace the session with sleep sleep by 14%.

Bed rest can be a killer

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, the study has shown that staying active after a heart attack is linked to better results.

“Fifty years ago, coronary patients were resting for six weeks after the heart attack and more than 20% died in one year,” explains Eleanor Levin, MD, cardiologist and professor of clinical medicine at Stanford Health Care in California, which was not involved in the study. “Now, this rate has decreased to around 5% with modern therapies and early mobilization.”

Early mobilization means a movement from a heart attack as possible, ideally in the first days of hospitalization, explains Dr. Levin.

These results support previous studies which have also found less sitting and more movement improve all kinds of results for health, explains Carl Lavie Jr., MD, cardiologist and professor of internal medicine at the Société de Médecine de l’Universitance du Queensland – Ochsner Health in New Orleans, Louisiana, which was not involved in this study.

These results show that this is true in people who recently had a heart attack, explains Dr. Lavie.

Why the movement counts

Why is exercise so useful after a heart attack? “We believe that regular movement helps activate muscles to serve as better blood sugar and cholesterol regulators, which is good for heart health,” explains Diaz.

Sitting, on the other hand, creates turns and constrictions in the blood vessels of the legs. This ultimately changes blood flow and can increase blood pressure, he said.

“We believe that regular movements can help prevent the increase in blood pressure regularly in the blood flow to the legs, and this can also benefit from heart benefits,” explains Diaz.

Sleeping more can also reduce the risk of heart attack

Although the exercise always provides the best “blow for your money”, the results on sleep are good news for people who may not have time, ability or desire to exercise, explains Diaz.

“Our observation that the replacement of 30 minutes of sedentary time by sleep can reduce the risk by 14% offers an encouraging message. Even having an additional half hour of sleep, rather than spending this time sitting on your phone or watching one more episode on Netflix, can support recovery and reduce risk. This is a feasible small step that can always make a significant difference for your health, ”he says.

Unlike the session, sleep promotes healthy and repairer processes that help regulate blood pressure, reduce inflammation and support heart function, explains Diaz.

“Sits for hours at the same time. It increases blood pressure, can trigger chronic inflammation and contributes to poor heart health, “he said.

Heart rehabilitation and 5 -minute walking breaks can make a big difference

Levin recommends cardiac rehabilitation, a medically supervised program that can help improve your cardiovascular health if you have had a heart attack or other types of heart surgery or heart disease.

Even if cardiac rehabilitation has proven to reduce future heart attacks, it is underused in the United States, she says.

“Participation in cardiac rehabilitation has been demonstrated in recent studies to reduce the mortality by 47%, but less than 1 in 4 coronary patients begin and finishes cardiac rehabilitation,” explains Levin.

Diaz suggests taking five-minute walking breaks at any pace is comfortable for you every half hour.

“In our laboratory, we found that the harmful effects of the session on blood sugar and blood pressure were considerably reduced by making a light five-minute walk every half hour. Although we have found that walks every hour also reduced some of the harmful effects of the sitting position, it was a light promenade of five minutes every half hour that had the most important effects, “he said.