People who are more physically active may have a lower risk of instant death after a heart attack compared to those who don't exercise, according to a study published Feb. 10 in European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Researchers pulled data from 10 European observational cohorts, which included more than 1.5 million people. Of those, 23,140 patients had a heart attack during a follow-up period. Nearly 5,000 participants died within 28 days of their heart attack. Of those, 3,101 died instantly.
Participants were grouped based on their weekly level of time spent on physical activity as low, moderate or high. Results showed that those with moderate and high levels of activity had a 33 percent and 45 percent lower risk of instant death after a heart attack compared to those with sedentary lifestyles. After 28 days, those with moderate or high levels of physical activity had a 36 percent and 28 percent lower risk of death, respectively.
The study authors acknowledged several research limitations, including that they were unable to assess changes in physical activity levels and other heart disease risk factors over time.
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