EVEN modest levels of exercise can help stave off heart attacks and strokes among the elderly, research shows.
Elderly moderately inactive people have a 14 per cent reduced risk of heart attack or stroke compared to those who were completely inactive, the study found.
Research published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology tracked more than 24,000 adults from Norfolk for around two decades.
Participants were recruited between 1993 and 1997 from GP practices in Norfolk and their activity levels assessed as active, moderately active, moderately inactive and inactive.
Eighteen years later there had been 5,240 cardiovascular disease events, such as coronary heart disease, which leads to angina, heart attack and heart failure, and stroke.
The research team found any physical activity among over 65s was better than none at all for reducing cardiovascular risk.
“Elderly people should be encouraged to at least do low intensity physical activities such as walking, gardening, and housework,”said lead author Dr Sangeeta Lachman of the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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