EXERCISE AND STROKE
As if we needed another study that tells us we should exercise. But here we have one. This is by Prestgaard et al in Stroke, Dec 2018.
Treatment of hypertension has dramatically reduced stroke risk. Now, attention has shifted to lifestyle factors, especially smoking cessation, healthy diet and exercise. This new study is unique in that it looked at long-term benefits of exercise on risk of stroke or death over 24 years, as well as effects of participants becoming fit or unfit during the first 7 years of the study. 1403 healthy men, ages 40-59 were recruited.
As expected, those who were fit at the start and remained fit did the best. Those who were unfit and remained so did the worst. But those who moved from fit to unfit lost ground, whereas those who moved from unfit to fit almost caught up.
So, it’s never too late to start to exercise.
