Mortality Risk Drops With More Exercise--A Little or a Lot

Mortality Risk Drops With More Exercise--A Little or a Lot

"BETHESDA, MD — Good news on the exercise front, including for those who do a little and those who do lot, with a new study showing that any amount of leisure-time physical activity is associated with a significantly lower risk of death when compared with no physical activity at all[1].



 Those who did a little, such as those individuals who did less than the amount outlined in the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, still had a 20% lower mortality risk compared with individuals who did no exercise at all. Those who achieved the minimum recommended physical-activity target—defined as 7.5 to <15 MET hours per week—had a 31% lower risk of dying compared with the physically inactive.



 Those who did a lot more, such as those exceeding the weekly recommendations, had an even larger reduction in mortality risk. Compared with those who did no exercise at all, individuals who performed approximately three to five times the recommended minimum had a near 40% reduction in the risk of dying. The benefit peaked at around 22.5 to 40 MET hours per/week, report investigators.

"Individuals should engage in a level of physical activity that meets the recommend minimum," lead investigator Dr Hannah Arem (National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD) told heartwire , "but clinicians don't need to caution their highly active patients about a higher mortality risk.""



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