Thursday, July 28, 2016

Moderate intensity physical activity for an hour mitigates the risk of death associated with sedentary lifestyle: A Meta-analysis.

Clinical Pearls:

  • Intense to moderate physical activity for 60-75 minutes’ can eliminate the effects of prolonged sitting (> 8 hours).
  • This equals to brisk walking at 5.6 km/h or cycling for pleasure at 16 km/h.

The association of sedentary lifestyle and many chronic conditions and colorectal cancer is well known and physical inactivity is an important modifiable risk factors in the causation of many chronic condition.  Prolonged sitting is one of the important cause of premature mortality.

But, according to a Meta-analysis involving about a million people, intense to moderate physical activity for 60-75 minutes’ can undermine the effects of prolonged sitting. This study was published online in the Lancet on July 27, 2016.[1] Examples of physical activity were brisk walking at 5.6 km/h or cycling for pleasure at 16 km/h.

This is a second in the series of articles published on physical inactivity by Lancet, the first was published in 2012, sending a message that physical inactivity is a global pandemic killer-responsible for 5.3 million premature deaths worldwide. The number equals the deaths caused by smoking and twice the deaths caused by obesity.

This is the first harmonized meta-analysis that compares the relationship between all-cause mortality and sedentary life style and different levels of physical inactivity.

A systematic review of literature identified about 16 studies out of which 13 were identified by the researchers as providing data on sitting time and all-cause mortality.

The combined study data generated data on pool of 1,005,791 individuals from different countries, who were followed up for 2-18 years.

The study participants were divided into quartiles according to the time spent being physically active and ranged from less than 5 minutes/day to 60-75 minutes/day. The daily sitting and TV viewing time was also divided into 4 standardized protocol.

It was seen that those who very active (60-75 minutes/day), the amount of sitting time does not increase the mortality. But, the risk of death increases as the activity time decreases. WHO guidelines also recommends at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week, which is far less than what the study recommends.[2]

"A clear dose-response association was observed, with an almost curvilinear augmented risk for all-cause mortality with increased sitting time in combination with lower levels of activity," the researchers noted.

For the purpose of estimating the hazard ratio(HR), the most active individuals were used as the reference group. (HR=1).

People who exercised the least (less than 5 min/day) were at highest risk, even if they did not spend much time sitting (less than 4 h/day). In this group the hazard of premature death was 1.27. This was way higher than those group of individuals who were most active physically (60-75 min/day) but also spent more than 8 hours sitting (HR=1.04). This was very close to the referent group, which led the researchers to conclude that physical inactivity is the root cause of premature deaths, independent of the hours of sitting.

The findings of this study emphasized the importance of physical activity, even if you have a job that demands prolonged sitting.

The study also draws attention towards relationship with TV watching and premature death. Watching TV for more than 3 hours per day is associated with premature death regardless of physical activity except in the most active quartile. In this group the mortality was only increased if you watch more than 5 hours of TV. The benefit of physical activity is not very strong in people watching TV because of “residual confounding”. Dr. Ekelund points that perhaps these people have unhealthy life- style that include snacking or drinking that increases the risks.

Ekelund pointed out in a London press conference [3]  that the average amount of time adults in the United Kingdom spend watching TV is three hours and six minutes. “I don’t know if it’s too much to ask that maybe a little of those three hours be devoted to physical activity,” he said. The general rule of thumb, as Ekelund succinctly advised: “Sit less and move more, and the more the better.”

He also emphasized the message about "moving more," suggesting that people should walk as much as they can and that if they do need to sit for prolonged periods, they should break up those periods with short bursts of activity, such as walking for 5 minutes every hour.

The full Lancet podcast about the series can be heard here.



[1] http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30370-1/fulltext
[3] http://press.thelancet.com/PhysicalactivityMEDIA.mp3

2 comments:

  1. My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's diseases this neuron disease started 25 years before being revealed it was triggered the moment we started eating sugars including any and almost all carbs that break down to glycerol, and he was placed on the best  medical treatment approved by the United States, (FDA) he has been taking Cholinesterase, Meantime to treat his memory loss, confusion and the problems with his thinking and reasoning. Just to help slow the progression and manage the symptoms, as no cure exists I read through with interest. I once believed Alzheimer disease has no cure. Well it is true with English medicine, but not with herbal medicine. My Dad's experience opened my eyes to the reality of a cure through herbs. My Father was a vibrant man before his encounter with Alzheimer. He was a scientist, hence his mental capability was never in doubt. In 2013, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer. The symptoms manifested through repeating conversation and gradually forgetting things. It became progressive from finding the right words during conversation, to significant confusion and forgetting details about himself. It was not a good experience, seeing your father whose brilliance had no match, totally became a shadow of himself. His doctors said the disease has no cure, just medications for treatment which had a lot of side effects were administered to him. Early 2016, while on the internet, I bumped into a story of Alzheimer, and I read about a cure through herbs with interest. I researched more to be sure it was not a hoax.  In my quest, Doctor James herbal mix medicine was mentioned in the testimony. I contacted the Great Healer  on his email that was provided  (GREATCUREMAN'@MAIL.COM)   and I got his herbal mix medicine for my father. He told me that his herbal mix medicine will help my Dad to reduce the abnormal protein fold inside his neurons, and regulate the nutrients and molecules in his body system, and as well stop the progressive disorder that build up in damaging his brain cells, and help his weak cells  that causes  brain shrinking to function well, it's a good herbal drinks for cell repairing. This doctor James is a super great man and his herbal mix medicine is wonderful and works effectively as he said, with no side effects. It's been 4 years and my Dad is perfectly okay and back to his laboratory work even at old age. For your loved ones with Alzheimer or Dementia, take them off English medicine and use Dr. James herbal mix medicine for treatment. If you are suffering from Dementia, Alzheimer's disease or facing different kinds of health challenges  do not hestitate to contact the great healer on his Email at.(GREATCUREMAN@GMAIL.COM].   and get your permanent cure. He's a good man, and he will help you.

    ReplyDelete

  2. you can buy Xanax 2mg tablets online from our ( Painmeds365 ) medical store that sells only prescribed medicines. You must understand the seriousness of the situation you are grappling with and understand the future consequences if ignored.

    buy xanax 2mg Online

    ReplyDelete