Elderly people are being encouraged to engage in daily exercise, such as a daily walk or bike ride, to reduce the likelihood of premature death.
Scientists found that physical activity levels are directly correlated with lower risk of death from all causes.
Over a ten-year period, thousands of people aged between 65 and 84 were tracked as part of a study.
Those who admitted to not being very physically active had a death rate of 2.9 per cent per year. For physically active people, this figure drops to 1.7 per cent.
Over a ten-year period, thousands of people aged between 65 and 84 were tracked as part of a study. Those who admitted to not being very physically active had a death rate of 2.9 per cent per year. For physically active people, this figure drops to 1.7 per cent (stock)
US researchers quizzed more than 2,000 Americans undergoing scans for coronary artery calcium or ‘CAC’ – plaque in vessels that can block off blood supply.
It is a leading cause of heart disease as calcium deposits inhibit blood flow in the heart’s own blood vessels.
If blood can not circulate round these vessels then oxygen cannot be delivered and it can be fatal.
Scientists writing in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes, asked people being scanned for signs of CAC about their activity levels.
Patients reported their physical activity on a scale from 0-none to 10-always.
US researchers quizzed more than 2,000 Americans undergoing scans for coronary artery calcium or ‘CAC’ – plaque in vessels that can block off blood supply. It is a leading cause of heart disease as calcium deposits inhibit blood flow in the heart’s own blood vessels (stock)
CAC is a risk factor for heart disease, as are several other things, including age, smoking habits, genetics and stress
Other health factors such as blood pressure, height and weight were taken into account, as was any history of diabetes, hypertension or smoking.
Over the course of the study, 23 per cent of people originally recruited had died, equating to an average annual mortality rate of 2.3 per cent.
However, the average figure hides a split in the data. Death rate among patients that said they are not very active was 2.9 per cent per year.
In the cohort who said they do exercise regularly – at least two and a half hours of aerobic exercise a week – they were less likely to die, with a mortality rate of 1.7 per cent.
Lead author Professor Alan Rozanski said: ‘With people now living longer, there is a growing need to determine how we can best detect latent heart disease and its associated clinical risk in older adults.
‘Our study showed simply asking patients to rate their level of physical activity, while using a test to look at the plaque in their coronary arteries, markedly improved our ability to predict patients’ risk for dying over their next decade of life.’
As well as a death rate divide based on physical activity levels, there was also a link between CAC scores and death.
Patients with low CAC scores (0-99) — meaning they had little or no hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis — had low death rates regardless of physical activity.
In contrast, in patients with moderate CAC scores (100-399), the risk of death doubled if a person had low activity levels.
A similar trend was seen in patients with CAC scores over 400, where all-cause mortality increased 2.35-fold for patients with low versus high activity.
Professor Rozanski, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, said: ‘Most notably, this valuable assessment of physical activity was easily obtained by asking patients just a single question about their physical activity.
‘This emphasises the well-touted importance of being active. Based on our data, there is no reason why this type of assessment should not become routine in clinical practice.’