Good cardiorespiratory fitness is the best way to avoid cardiovascular disease, according to new research.
Improving fitness even slightly can significantly increase the odds of living a life free from cardiovascular disease.
According to a new study, even if you have other risk factors—such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels—good fitness can counteract and offset these adverse effects.
The study supports the notion that it is better to have good cardiorespiratory fitness alongside some unfavorable health markers—such as being slightly overweight—than to have poor cardiorespiratory fitness while being slender.
One of the studies followed 40,000 men from the late 1970s, with an average follow-up period of 17 years per participant. Researchers measured blood markers, and participants underwent several fitness tests. They then correlated each person’s cause of death with their health status.
“While it is still extremely important to measure traditional risk factors such as resting blood pressure, blood cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose levels, having a measure or estimate of the patient’s cardiorespiratory fitness level gives us additional information regarding cardiovascular disease risk.
The results of this study support this recommendation. Regardless of whether the blood TG:HDL ratio was low or high, having at least a moderate level of fitness provided some protection from CHD death when compared to having a low level of fitness.”
— Stephen W. Farrell, Ph.D., The Cooper Institute, Dallas, Texas
Overall, the researchers emphasize that it remains important to measure blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels, as these can indicate cardiovascular disease risk. However, they also stress the importance of monitoring and maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness.
Participants in the study who had normal to high fitness levels had two to three times greater chances of surviving cardiovascular disease.
Reference:
Farrell, S. W., et al. Moderate to High Levels of Cardiorespiratory Fitness Attenuate the Effects of Triglyceride to High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Ratio on Coronary Heart Disease Mortality in Men. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Volume 92, Issue 12 (December 2017), Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2017.08.015