We found consistently lower mortality rates in all age groups with higher levels of physical activity of any kind. This study sends a strong message for women, says Debra R Judelson MD, FACC, FACP, because it demonstrates that any level of exercise can reduce their death rates. Judelson is medical director of the Women's Heart Institute and a member of the Cardiovascular Medical Group of Southern California. She says that women who can't do vigorous exercise should take heart from the study's findings. William Averill, MD, agrees.
Physical inactivity is a risk factor for heart disease.
Averill is chief of medicine at Torrance Memorial Medical Center in California and a member of the board of directors of the Western States Affiliate of the American Heart Association. He was not involved in the study. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine , reports on data from three large Danish surveys that randomly selected more than 13,000 women and 17,000 men ranging from 20 to 93 years old. They found that younger people tended to be more physically active, and those with more education were more active in their leisure time and tended to be more sports oriented. The researchers also found that as people got older, the benefits of physical activity increased.