Common habit that's putting you at risk of a heart attack
Millions could be putting themselves at risk and not know it
A common habit may be putting you at higher risk of a deadly disease, and many of us do it on a daily basis without realising. Urging people to not sit around too much, researchers have revealed if you do, you could be at risk of cardiovascular disease.
CVD, short for cardiovascular disease, is a broad term used to describe conditions that affect the heart or blood vessels. But there’s one daily habit we all share - regardless of age, job, or gender - that could increase our risk.
According to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), it's a "significant cause of disability and death." The NHS adds: "CVD is responsible for one in four premature deaths in the UK and accounts for the largest gap in health life expectancy.
"Those in the most deprived 10% of the population are almost twice as likely to die as a result of CVD, than those in the least deprived 10% of the population"
According to a study published in ScienceDirect, being sedentary puts a person at greater risk. The research looked at how time spent sitting or being inactive, measured with accelerometer, relates to the risk of certain cardiovascular diseases.
It also examined how moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) might influence those risks. Using data from participants in the UK Biobank prospective cohort study, researchers collected information from 89,530 individuals with an average age of 62, 56.4% of whom were women.
Their conclusion reads: "Sedentary behavior is broadly associated with future adverse CV outcomes, with particularly prominent effects on HF and CV mortality, where risk inflected at approximately 10.6 h/d.
"Although guideline-adherent MVPA partially mitigates excess risk, optimizing sedentary behavior appears to be important even among physically active individuals."
This means that while getting moderate to vigorous physical activity can help lower some of the health risks associated with being sedentary - like heart disease - it doesn’t completely stop you from developing it. Because of this, people who are active should still try to cut down on how much time they spend sitting or being inactive during the day.
What are the risk factors for CVD?
They warn that people are more at risk of having CVD if you have atrial fibrillation (AF), high blood pressure or high cholesterol. These are known as the ‘high risk conditions’.
"You are also more at risk of CVD if you have diabetes or a family history of heart disease, if you are a smoker, or are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background", they add.