{"id":119578,"date":"2025-05-21T10:47:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T10:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/119578\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T10:47:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T10:47:15","slug":"more-sleep-exercise-less-sitting-can-help-lower-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/119578\/","title":{"rendered":"More sleep, exercise, less sitting can help lower risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/senior-man-standing-doorway-1296x728-header-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"smiling older man standing in doorway\" class=\"css-1jytyml\"\/><a class=\"icon-hl-pinterest css-11oz8gb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" data-event=\"Any Page|Image Pinterest Click|Icon Clicked\" data-element-event=\"OPEN|CONTENTBLOCK|Any Page|Article Body|BUTTON|Image Widget Pinterest Click|\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.medicalnewstoday.com%2Farticles%2Freplacing-30-minutes-sitting-time-with-exercise-may-prevent-second-heart-attack&amp;media=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.post.rvohealth.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2025%2F05%2Fsenior-man-standing-doorway-1296x728-header-1024x575.jpg&amp;description=Heart%20attack%3A%20More%20sleep%2C%20exercise%2C%20less%20sitting%20can%20help%20lower%20risk\" title=\"Share on Pinterest\" data-pin-custom=\"true\" data-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/senior-man-standing-doorway-1296x728-header-1024x575.jpg\">Share on Pinterest<\/a>To prevent a second heart attack, replace 30 minutes\u2019 sitting time with exercise, a new study suggests. Image credit: Maskot\/Getty Images.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About one in five people who have experienced a heart attack will have another within 5 years. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Heart attack survivors are also at an increased risk for other cardiovascular issues, such as heart failure, which can be lowered through lifestyle changes like exercising more. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A new study says people who are too sedentary after experiencing a heart attack are at a higher risk of having another one or another cardiovascular event.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Researchers report the risk of a secondary cardiovascular event can be lowered by replacing 30 minutes of sedentary behavior with light-intensity or moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity, or sleep.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cThe risks for heart attack survivors are still substantial,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.columbiacardiology.org\/profile\/keith-diaz-phd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"content-link css-90fpmc\">Keith Diaz<\/a>, PhD, the Florence Irving Associate Professor of Behavioral Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, a certified exercise physiologist, a volunteer member of the AHA\u2019s Physical Activity Science Committee, and lead author of a new study told Medical News Today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven those survivors who receive the most advanced treatments and medications still have significant risk. That\u2019s why it\u2019s urgent to find additional ways to reduce this risk,\u201d Diaz explained.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to this list is a new study recently published in the journal <a href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1161\/CIRCOUTCOMES.124.011644\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"content-link css-90fpmc\">Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes<\/a> \u2014 for which Diaz is the lead author \u2014 which reports that people who are too sedentary after experiencing a heart attack are at a higher risk of having another one or another cardiovascular event.<\/p>\n<p>However, they can lower their risk of a secondary cardiovascular event by replacing 30 minutes of sedentary behavior with light-intensity or moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity, or sleep.<\/p>\n<p>For this study, researchers recruited more than 600 adults between the ages of 21 to 96 who had been treated at a hospital for a heart attack or chest pain. Study participants were asked to wear a wrist accelerometer for an average of 30 consecutive days after leaving the hospital to measure how much time they spent sedentary vs moving.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cIn our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacc.org\/doi\/10.1016\/j.jacc.2016.10.087\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"content-link css-90fpmc\">previous research<\/a>, we noticed that a number of heart attack survivors were quite fearful of exercise,\u201d Diaz said. \u201cMany of the bodily sensations of intense exercise can remind survivors of their heart attack, causing them to fear and avoid it. As a result, we were finding that many survivors were extremely sedentary, spending over 13 hours a day sitting.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven all that has been learned from research on the health hazards of sitting, we were concerned that heart attack survivors were unknowingly increasing their risk of having another event,\u201d he continued. \u201cThat\u2019s why we decided to investigate the link between sedentary behavior and secondary heart attack risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the study\u2019s conclusion, Diaz and his team found that study participants who spent an average of more than 14 hours a day being sedentary more than doubled their chances of having another cardiac event or to be hospitalized again within a year after their first cardiac event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis finding highlights that sedentary behavior is a toxic, harmful behavior which can impact recovery and future health risk after a heart event,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow css-34gtoi\">\n<p>\u201cA big misconception among both patients and physicians is that sedentary behavior doesn\u2019t matter as long as you are getting your exercise in. Many people focus solely on meeting exercise recommendations, treating it like a checkbox. \u2018I got my 30 minutes in, so I\u2019m good and don\u2019t need to move [for] the rest of the day.\u2019 But exercise is just the tip of the iceberg. It only accounts for [approximately] 2% of the day for those who actually do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Keith Diaz, PhD<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cOur study found that patients who spent more time sitting after a heart event had a higher risk of cardiac events and death within a year, irrespective of exercise levels,\u201d Diaz added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn other words, even if you\u2019re exercising, long periods of sitting can still pose a serious health risk. Reducing sedentary time throughout the day is really important for optimal recovery after a heart event,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n<p>On the flip side, researchers discovered that participants who replaced 30 minutes of sedentary behavior with light-intensity physical activity daily lowered their secondary heart event or death risk by 50%.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Furthermore, substituting 30 minutes of sitting with moderate to vigorous activity every day cut their risk by 61%. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe large reduction in risk from replacing sedentary time with light-intensity activity really underscores an important public health message: doing something is better than doing nothing,\u201d Diaz said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMovement itself, regardless of intensity, can be beneficial after hospitalization. This is especially relevant for people recovering from a heart event who may find moderate or vigorous activity difficult or scary,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile exercise still provides the best \u2018bang for your buck\u2019 in terms of the greatest health benefits, our findings are good news for people who may not have the time, ability or desire to exercise,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe road to a healthy lifestyle after a heart event is more accessible and achievable than we thought and is not just for gym regulars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Diaz and his team also found that if participants replaced 30 minutes of sedentary time with an extra 30 minutes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicalnewstoday.com\/articles\/325353\" class=\"content-link css-90fpmc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sleep<\/a>, they slashed their secondary cardiac event risk by 14%. <\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cSleep is healthier than sitting,\u201d Diaz explained. \u201cIt\u2019s a restorative behavior that helps the body and mind recover which is especially important after a serious health event like a heart attack. Many patients struggle to find time or feel too intimidated to engage in intense physical activity.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur findings offer an encouraging message,\u201d he added. \u201cEven getting an extra half hour of sleep, rather than spending that time sitting on your phone or watching one more episode on Netflix, can support recovery and reduce risk. For all the couch potatoes out there, this is a small, doable step that can still make a meaningful difference for your health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MNT also had the opportunity to speak with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.memorialcare.org\/providers\/christopher-j-berg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"content-link css-90fpmc\">Christopher Berg<\/a>, MD, a board certified cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, about this study, who commented that the results are concerning, but not all that surprising. <\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWe\u2019ve long known that too much sitting is bad for cardiovascular health,\u201d Berg, who was not involved in this study, explained. \u201cBut this research adds an important layer: It\u2019s not just how much time patients are sedentary \u2014 it\u2019s also how that time is accumulated. Long, uninterrupted periods of inactivity appear particularly harmful.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat really stood out to me was the authors\u2019 statistical approach that suggested that even replacing 30 minutes of sedentary time with light activity, moderate exercise, or even sleep was associated with a lower risk of heart events and death,\u201d he continued. \u201cThat\u2019s a powerful message that I\u2019ll be using in [the] clinic to encourage patients to stay active.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStill, it\u2019s important to be cautious with these results,\u201d Berg added. \u201cThis was an observational study, so we can\u2019t say for sure that [more] sedentary behavior caused the bad outcomes. People in the most sedentary group were generally older and had more health problems, which may have contributed to their risk. That said, the message is still a good one: if you\u2019ve had a heart attack \u2014 or even just a scare \u2014 staying active in some form is likely beneficial.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Share on PinterestTo prevent a second heart attack, replace 30 minutes\u2019 sitting time with exercise, a new study&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4322],"tags":[1630,105,11547,966,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-119578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-heart-attack","11":"tag-heart-health","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114545429671009811","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}