Exercise Protects Against Atrial Fibrillation in Women, Stanford Study

By now, most of us are aware of the plethora of health benefits linked to exercise. But for older women, another advantage been added to the list; researchers publishing in the Journal of the American Heart Association say increasing the amount or intensity of exercise can decrease risks of developing arrhythmia – a life-threatening irregular heartbeat.

The study authors looked at whether physical activity affected the link between obesity and AF. They recruited 81,317 women who had gone through menopause between ages 50 and 79 for the study.

About 25 percent of the women were obese, and 34.5 percent were overweight.

The researchers followed up with the women for an average of 11.5 years.

At the beginning of the study, the participants filled out surveys on their health and lifestyle, including physical activity levels.

Researchers also took the participants’ blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) — a height-to-weight measurement.

The participants filled out a new survey annually.

Using hospital records, the researchers found out which women had been diagnosed with AF.

They found that 9,792 women developed AF during the study.

Also, higher BMI was tied to a higher risk of AF.

Compared to very inactive women, participants who were the most active had a 10 percent lower risk of AF. The most active participants walked briskly for about three hours per week or performed similar exercise.

The researchers also found that obesity increased the risk of AF the most among women who were very inactive.

They concluded that more exercise was associated with a lower risk of AF.

Agencies/Canadajournal