Young At Heart

If you thought it was too late to improve your heart health once you reach your 40s and​ 50s, think again.

- Sarah Marinos

If you’ve spent a large part of your life on the couch nursing the TV remote, or if much of your working day involves sitting at a desk, all is not lost! Because it’s never too late to improve your health – at least when it comes to your heart.

New research has found even after years of sitting down, men and women in middle age can reverse their risk of heart failure and perhaps add years to their life. The secret? Regular aerobic exercise – both moderate and high-intensity – on four or more days a week.

The risk of heart disease increases as we get older, particularly once we reach our 40s when the lifetime risk of coronary heart disease becomes one in two for men and one in three for women. One risk factor for heart disease is inactivity – and a recent Ministry of Transporthousehold travel survey shows Kiwis are highly dependent on our cars, as opposed to walking or taking public transport. The survey found 81 percent of us don’t even walk more than 100m in a day.

“Low fitness in middle age, in people right around the world, is a strong predictor of future risk of heart failure and is associated with increased cardiac stiffness, a potential precursor to heart failure,” explains Dr Erin Howden, a researcher at the Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute.

EXERCISE IS KEY

Latest research from the Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute has found there is a ‘sweet spot’ in mid-life when regular exercise can reverse some of the damage to the heart caused by years of sitting down and being inactive.

The study found mixing moderate physical activity with a weekly session of high-intensity interval training increased heart fitness. It also reduced damaging cardiac stiffness by 25 percent.