Musings of a Cardiologist

In this generation of fast paced life with multiple options available all at the click of a button the risk of cardiovascular disease is increasing at an alarming rate especially among the young individuals. In my clinic I am seeing more of 20 and 30 years olds with coronary artery disease and many of them do not even have any of the usual risk factors for cardiac disease but still end up with multiple blocks in heart.

In a recent meta-analysis published by the European journal of preventive cardiology it was seen that the amount of steps that a person takes per day is inversely correlated with the risk of cardiovascular disorders. The authors concluded from 17 studies including almost 227000 patients that sedentary lifestyle directly accounted for higher risk of cardiovascular disease and even a 1000 step increment leads to 15% decrease in all cause mortality. For the first time the study confirmed the notion of ‘the more the better’ i.e. the more the number of steps a person takes the lower the risk of cardiovascular disease appears to be.

This study emphasizes the inclusion of even a simple morning walk routine could be effective in adding years to your life. The American college of cardiology recommends atleast 150 minutes of moderate activity to keep heart disease at bay. This could be a good starting point for people looking to keep their hearts healthy.