Physical activity linked to lower mortality risk in CHD

(HealthDay)—Physical activity (PA), but not weight loss, is associated with improved survival in coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a study published in the March 13 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Trine Moholdt, Ph.D., from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and colleagues studied 3,307 individuals with CHD and examined the hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, calculated according to changes in body mass index and PA.

The researchers identified 1,493 deaths during 30 years of follow-up. There was a correlation for weight loss with increased all-cause mortality (adjusted HR, 1.3; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.12 to 1.5). There was no correlation for weight gain with increased mortality (adjusted HR, 0.97; 95 percent CI, 0.87 to 1.09). Increased risk in association with weight loss was limited to those who were normal weight at baseline (adjusted HR, 1.38; 95 percent CI, 1.11 to 1.72). Compared with participants who were inactive over time, the risk for all-cause mortality was lower for those who maintained low PA (adjusted HR, 0.81; 95 percent CI, 0.67 to 0.97) or high PA (adjusted HR, 0.64; 95 percent CI, 0.5 to 0.83). Similar associations were seen for CVD mortality.

"Increased attention should be placed on strategies to increase PA in secondary prevention of CHD," the authors write.