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Physical activity can lower MI risk in older adults
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Greater physical activity in adults aged at least 65 years is associated with more favorable heart rate variability, which could relate to lower MI risk, according to new findings.
“Our results suggest potential mechanisms that might contribute to lower [CV] mortality with habitual [physical activity] later in life,” Luisa Soares-Miranda, PhD, and colleagues wrote.
The researchers studied the effects of physical activity on heart rate variability (HRV) because HRV produces indices of autonomic function and electrophysiology associated with cardiac risk, according to the study background.
Soares-Miranda, of Harvard School of Public Health and University of Porto, Portugal, and colleagues analyzed 985 adults aged at least 65 years (mean age, 71 years; 60% women) enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study in 1989 and 1990. They obtained two-channel 24-hour Holter monitor (Del Mar Medical Systems) recordings at baseline and at 5 years and conducted longitudinal analyses of time-domain HRV in 985 patients and of frequency domain HRV and nonlinear HRV in 909 patients. The researchers also assessed physical activity at baseline and in 1992-1993 via a modified Minnesota Leisure-Time Activities questionnaire, evaluating total leisure-time activity, exercise intensity and walking distance and pace.
After multivariable adjustment, the researchers found that total leisure-time activity, walking distance and walking pace were prospectively associated with favorable HRV indices. These included 24-hour standard deviation of all normal-to-normal intervals (P for trend=.009 for total leisure-time activity, .02 for walking distance and .06 for walking pace) and ultra-low frequency power (P for trend=.02 for total leisure-time activity, .008 for walking distance and .16 for walking pace).
The researchers also found that walking pace was associated with two markers of less erratic sinus patterns: higher short-term fractal scaling exponent (P for trend=.003) and lower Poincare ratio (P for trend=.02).
Exercise intensity was not associated with any HRV index, the researchers found.
“Any physical activity is better than none, but maintaining or increasing your activity has added heart benefits as you age,” Soares-Miranda said in a press release. “Our results also suggest that certain beneficial changes that occur may be reduced when physical activity is reduced.”
Disclosure: The study was funded by the NHLBI, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the National Institute on Aging. The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Perspective
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David Frid, MD
The study reconfirms our knowledge that exercise, no matter what your age, is beneficial in reducing your heart disease risk. This study supports that continued exercise at a good, effective level is what is beneficial. As you get older, you shouldn’t consider yourself as someone who does not have to exercise as hard because of age.
The only potential effect it has on clinical practice is reinforcing what is already known, that older people should continue to be exercising at an effective level. We’ve always said that people should exercise somewhere between 60% and 85% of their maximum predicted heart rate, and they should be doing it for 30 to 45 minutes, three to five times a week.
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