Middle-aged women who are physically active a few times a week have a lower risk of vascular events than inactive women, according to research published in Circulation.
Women who engaged in physical activity 2 to 3 times per week were about 20% less likely to develop heart disease, stroke, or venous thromboembolism (VTE) than women who reported little or no activity.
However, more frequent activity was associated with an increased risk of vascular events.
“Inactive middle-aged women should try to do some activity regularly,” said study author Miranda Armstrong, PhD, of the University of Oxford in the UK.
“However, to prevent heart disease, stroke, and blood clots, women don’t need to do very frequent activity, as this seems to provide little additional benefit above that of moderately frequent activity.”
Dr Armstrong and her colleagues analyzed 1.1 million women in the UK with no history of cancer, heart disease, stroke, VTE, or diabetes who joined the Million Women Study from 1996 to 2001. Their average age at study entry was 56.
The women reported their level of physical activity—hours spent walking, cycling, gardening, and doing housework—at the beginning of the study and 3 years later. The researchers then examined hospital admissions and deaths in relation to participants’ responses.
During an average follow-up of 9 years, 49,113 women had a first coronary heart disease event, 17,822 had a first cerebrovascular event, and 14,550 had a first VTE.
Women who reportedly engaged in moderate physical activity had a significantly lower risk of each event compared to inactive women (P<0.001 for all).
On the other hand, the risk of cerebrovascular disease and VTE were significantly higher in women who engaged in physical activity daily, when compared to women who reported physical activity 2 to 3 times a week (P<0.001).
For coronary heart disease, women who reported daily activity had a significantly higher risk only if that activity was strenuous (P=0.002)—not for any physical activity (P=0.8).
