WEDNESDAY, July 27, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Poor physical fitness ranks right behind smoking as leading risk factors for an early death, new long-term research suggests.
Analyzing nearly 800 men starting at midlife, Swedish scientists also found that each measurable increase in fitness levels translated into a 21 percent lower risk of death over 45 years of follow-up.
"Fitness in middle age is of importance for mortality risk for several decades," said study author Per Ladenvall, a researcher in the department of molecular and clinical medicine at University of Gothenburg. "Persons with low fitness are associated with an increased mortality risk throughout life."
"Smoking was the risk factor that was [most strongly] associated with mortality," Ladenvall added. "We were somewhat surprised that the effect of aerobic capacity was even more pronounced than that of high cholesterol and high blood pressure."
Heart problems caused by narrowed heart arteries, also known as ischemic heart disease, is the most common cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
Using exercise testing, which is traditionally used to diagnose ischemic heart disease, the study authors set out to determine the impact of physical fitness on early death from all causes. They also looked at established risk factors of heart disease such as smoking, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Click here to continue reading
