Daily activities like washing dishes may lower heart disease risk in older women

Compared with women who exercised less than two hours a day, those who exercised at least four hours a day had a 43% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, a 43% lower risk of coronary heart disease, and a 30% lower risk of stroke.

Reporting in the online Feb.

"This study shows that all exercise helps prevent disease," said first author Steve Nguyen, a postdoctoral scholar, MPH, Ph.

The researchers used a machine-learning algorithm to classify each minute of waking behavior into five categories: sitting, sitting in a car, standing still, daily life movements, and walking or running

As part of the Women's Health Initiative Targeted Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health study, researchers measured the physical activity of nearly 5,416 U.

Participants wore research-grade accelerometers for 7 days to get accurate measures of how much time they spent and moving, and importantly, the types of common daily living behaviors that led to movement and were not often included in previous research light and to intense physical activity

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, with the highest mortality rate among adults 65 or older

In the study, 616 women were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, 268 had coronary heart disease, 253 had stroke, and 331 died from cardiovascular disease

"Most of the exercise older adults engage in is related to tasks of daily living but may not be considered physical activity

Co-authors include: John Bellettiere and Loki Natarajan, UC San Diego; Guangxing Wang, Chongzhi Di, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Michael J.

This research was funded in part by the National Institute on Aging (P01 AG052352, 5T32AG058529-03) and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (R01 HL105065)

Journal Reference :

1. Steve Nguyen, John Bellettiere, Guangxing Wang, Chongzhi Di, Loki Natarajan, Michael J.