Exercise halves risk of early death after a heart attack

DON’T take it easy after a heart attack – regular exercise halves the chance of early death, a study has found.

Patients should be prescribed activity to boost their survival chances, in the light of the findings, said the Swedish researchers who examined data on more than 22,000 patients aged between 18 and 74 who had a heart attack between 2005 and 2013.

Those who increased their activity in the year after the attack, or maintained high levels of activity, were more than 50 per cent more likely to be alive four years later than those with sedentary lifestyles, the study found.

Fitness was assessed by asking patients how many times they exercised for 30 minutes or more during a week, with the question repeated a year later.

Patients were classed as inactive if they did one session a week or less, and active if they did between two and seven such sessions weekly. Those who increased activity levels over the year had a 51 per cent lower risk of death than those who were inactive in both assessments. Those who had maintained high activity levels throughout the year fared best of all, with 59 per cent higher survival.

“It is well known that physically active people are less likely to have a heart attack and more likely to live longer,” said lead author Dr Orjan Ekblom, associate professor, Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, Stockholm. “However, we did not know the impact of exercise on people after a heart attack.

“Exercising twice or more a week should be automatically advocated for heart attack patients in the same way that they receive advice to stop smoking, improve diet and reduce stress.

“Our study shows that this advice applies to all heart attack patients.

“Exercise reduced the risk of death in patients with large and small myocardial infarctions, and for smokers and non-smokers, for example.”

The British Heart Foundation recommends exercise after a heart attack, but beginning with gentle walking, and with advice from a doctor or cardiac rehabilitation team.

Activity is known to protect against heart attacks and strokes.

A Finnish study found that pensioners who spend just half an hour a day gardening, fishing or walking can reduce their risk of a fatal heart attack by more than half.

The study into 2,456 men and women, aged between 65 and 74, found that those with an active retirement had far lower death rates.