How much exercise do older adults need to stay heart healthy?

Understanding the associations between physical activity and sedentary behaviours with cardiovascular risk in older age; a population-based study with objective physical activity monitoring

Heart and circulatory disease is one of Britain’s biggest killers, particularly in older people (age older than 70 years). We know that low levels of physical activity and high levels of sedentary behaviour, like long periods of sitting, increase the risk of developing heart and circulatory disease. These risks are more pronounced in older people, whose level of physical activity may be low. Dr Barbara Jefferis and colleagues at University College London are doing a 2-year study to look at the effect of time spent either doing physical activities or sitting, on the risk of heart and circulatory disease in older people. In 1,704 men aged between 72 years and 91 years, they will study patterns of the time spent being active and time spent being sedentary. They will link this information to any biological signs the men may be showing in relation to how they are ageing and also any characteristics of heart or circulatory disease such as blood pressure and signs of inflammation in arteries. The approach of the research team is special because past research has relied on asking participants to recall time spent, for example, watching television. By contrast, Dr Jefferis and team will use results from special activity monitors which tracked what the participants were doing on a daily basis from 2010 to 2012, improving the accuracy of the results. This research will help to check and define national guidelines on recommended activity and sitting times.