Source: Thailand Medical News Dec 20, 2019 5 years, 5 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes ago
Cycling and
walking to work were associated with fewer
heart attacks across 43 million adults in England, according to a new national study. Co-authored by Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, Olympic-medal winning triathletes and alumni of the University of Leeds, the research suggests that active travel could provide important
health benefits.
In places where
walking or cycling to work were more common in 2011, the incidence of
heart attacks decreased for both men and women across the following two years.
The medical researchers acknowledged that the big risk factors
for heart disease are a lack of exercise, being overweight, smoking and diabetes. After adjusting for these, the researchers found that active commuting was linked with additional
health benefits in some cases. For women who walked to work there was an associated 1.7 percent reduction in
heart attacks the following year. For men who cycled to work there was also an associated 1.7 percent reduction in
heart attacks the following year.
The new research, led by the University of Leeds, was published in the
European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
"Our study at the University of Leeds shows that exercise as a means of commuting to work is associated with lower levels of
heart attack. The benefits of regular exercise are numerous and we support initiatives to help everyone become and stay active." commented co-author Alistair Brownlee, double Olympic triathlon champion with British Triathlon, in a phone interview with
Thailand Medical News.
The officials from the Government has recognized the potential of active transport to help tackle physical inactivity, climate change, air pollution and congestion. Despite this, the proportion of people who exercise as part of their commute remains low.
The research looked at the 2011 UK Census data, which included 43 million people aged 25-74 years employed in England, and found that 11.4 percent were active commuters.
Walking was more popular than
cycling (8.6 percent vs. 2.8 percent).
"Whilst we cannot conclusively say that active travel to work lowers the risk of
heart attack, the study is indicative of such a relationship. Greater efforts by national and local policy makers to improve the uptake of
cycling and
walking to work are likely to be rewarded by future improvements in population-based health. The effect of active commuting is fairly modest when compared with the stronger determinants of cardiovascular health such as smoking, obesity, diabetes, and regular exercise. However, this study clearly suggests that exercising on the way to work has the potential to bring nationwide improvements to
health &
lt;/strong>and wellbeing." Said lead author Professor Chris Gale, Consultant Cardiologist, from the University of Leeds' Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine.
The term active commuting was defined as people who reported their main mode of transport to work as either "bicycle" or "on foot" in the UK Census.
The rates of active travel varied significantly between local authorities across England, with as few as 5 percent of people walking or cycling to work in some authorities, compared to as many as 41.6 percent in other areas.
Also, there was a sex difference for active travel in the 2011 Census data, with more men cycling to work than women (3.8 percent vs. 1.7 percent), but more women walking to work than men (11.7 percent vs. 6.0 percent).
The study was funded in part by the British Heart Foundation.
In mid 2019, the Transport Select Committee published a report on active travel, concluding that walking and cycling have not been given enough attention by policymakers and current targets are not ambitious enough. The Government's current aim is to double the number of people cycling by 2025.
"Finding time to exercise can be tricky given our increasingly busy and often sedentary lives. But exercising doesn't have to involve a pricey gym membership or hours spent on a treadmill. Upgrading your commute by swapping the gas pedal for a bike pedal is a great way to get your heart pumping on a daily basis. If that's not an option, parking a few streets away or getting off the bus a few stops early can help pave the way to a longer, healthier life." commented Professor Metin Avkiran, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation.
Reference : Association of prevalence of active transport to work and incidence of myocardial infarction: A nationwide ecological study. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/ … 177/2047487319876228
