Brian May says he’s ‘grateful to be alive’ after heart attack
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Brand-new research suggests that physical activity – usually heralded as the miracle preventative tool against disease – could in actual fact lead to the build-up of calcium deposits in the arteries. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) pointed out that calcification of the arteries is used to assess future cardiovascular disease risk. For those with a coronary artery calcium (CAC) score of 100 or above, statins are usually recommended to lower the risk of a heart attack and death.
Now research indicates that people who exercise frequently have high CAC scores.
In a bid to explore this association further, heathy individuals underwent regular comprehensive health check-ups between 2011 and 2017.
At each health check, participants filled out questionnaires on medical and family history, lifestyle, and educational attainment.
To add into the medical records, weight, blood pressure and blood fats were also assessed.
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There were three categories for physical activity:
- Inactive
- Moderately active
- Intensely physically active.
Out of 22,741 men and 2,744 women, aged at least 30 years old:
- 47 percent were inactive
- 38 percent were moderately active
- 15 percent were intensely physically active.
Those grouped in the intensely physically active group did enough activity to equate to running 6.5km daily.
Scans documented the development and/or progression of coronary artery calcification over an average of three years.
The findings demonstrated that higher physical activity was associated with faster progression of CAC scores.
This was true for both of those who started with no calcium despots and those who already had a CAC score at the beginning of the experiment.
Compared to those who were inactive, the moderately active group had increased calcification scores by 3.20 within a five-year average.
For those who were intensely physically active, the calcification score was 8.16 times more than that of the physically inactive group.
The observational study does have some limitations, including the lack of an objective measure of physical activity.
Furthermore, there was no data on heart attack incidents, calcification density or volume.
The researchers stated that physical activity “may increase coronary atherosclerosis (artery narrowing) through mechanical stress and vessel wall injury”.
“The second possibility is that physical activity may increase CAC scores without increasing [cardiovascular disease] risk,” it was noted.
The “unquestionable” cardiovascular benefits are not to be dismissed, the researchers noted.
Such benefits include: lowering cholesterol and blood sugar, and weight loss.
The research does, however, throw into question the use of coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores to prescribe statins.
“It may be the target we need to look for is non-calcified plaque rather than calcified plaque,” said Dr Alastair James Moss.
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