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Teenage boys who were stronger in their legs had a lower chance of developing serious heart artery blockages when they got older.
Correlational
Boys who were more physically fit at age 18 had a lower chance of having serious clogged heart arteries when they reached their 50s.
Even if two 70-year-olds are the same age, the one with stiffer arteries will have a much older 'vascular age'—a sign their blood vessels are aging faster.
In older adults without heart disease, high pressure in the main artery leading from the heart is more strongly linked to early artery plaque than high blood pressure measured at the arm.
Older adults who are more physically fit tend to have lower levels of 'bad' cholesterol in their blood.
Older adults who are more physically fit tend to have less body fat, especially fat around the organs, even if their weight looks normal.
People who are more physically fit in their 60s tend to have lower pressure in their main arteries, more flexible blood vessels, and less stress on their heart—signs their blood vessels are younger and healthier.
Even if you’re super fit and exercise a lot, having calcium buildup in your heart arteries still means you’re at higher risk for a heart attack or needing a stent.
Descriptive
Even people who exercise extremely hard don’t seem to have fewer heart attacks than those who barely exercise at all.
People who exercise a lot—like marathon runners or ultra-endurance athletes—tend to live longer than those who barely exercise, even though they don’t necessarily have fewer heart attacks.
Even when you account for age, fitness, and cholesterol, how smoothly an athlete’s heart rate recovers after a hard race can tell you whether they have early heart artery plaque.
Athletes with early heart artery plaque put more strain on their hearts during intense exercise, as shown by a higher number that combines heart rate and blood pressure—meaning their hearts are working harder than those without plaque.
The bigger the rise in the bottom number of blood pressure (diastolic) during a hard race, the more likely an athlete is to have early heart artery plaque—even if their resting blood pressure is normal.
When athletes with early heart artery plaque stop a hard race, their heart rate doesn’t adjust as smoothly as those without plaque, suggesting their body’s automatic control system for heart rate and blood pressure isn’t working as well.
Athletes with early signs of heart artery plaque experience much higher blood pressure when pushing hard during a long bike race than athletes without plaque, meaning their hearts and blood vessels are under more strain.
Sitting or being inactive for long periods every day makes people more likely to die early—from heart disease or any other cause.
Older people who take more steps every day—like walking around their neighborhood—live longer, and every extra 1,000 steps makes a noticeable difference.
Even just moving around slowly—like strolling around the house or garden—can help people live longer and reduce their risk of dying from heart disease.
People who do brisk walking, jogging, or other activities that make them breathe hard live longer and have fewer heart-related deaths than those who are mostly inactive.
People who move more throughout the day—according to their fitness trackers—are much less likely to die early from any cause or from heart disease.
The blood tests used to diagnose heart attacks can’t tell the difference between a healthy athlete’s post-race troponin spike and a real heart attack.
After a long bike ride, the troponin T blood test is more likely to show a heart attack signal than the troponin I test—even when the heart is healthy.
After a long bike race, most people’s blood tests show troponin levels high enough to be diagnosed as a heart attack—even though their hearts are actually fine.
After riding a long bike race, people’s hearts release more of a protein called troponin, especially women, and this spike happens faster in some tests than others.