Exercise Cuts Heart Risks, Regardless of Your Genes

A study published in Circulation suggests staying physically fit can help stave off heart trouble, even if your genetics put you at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, reports HealthDay News . The examination of about 500,000 middle-aged and older adults determined people with higher fitness levels were less likely to develop heart disease over six years, even among those who carried gene variants that raise the odds of heart problems. "It's likely that if you try to improve your fitness level through exercise, you'll benefit," says Stanford University Professor Erik Ingelsson. The researchers studied how people's fitness levels correlated with their risk of developing heart disease over the next six years. Irrespective of the genes people carried, higher fitness levels meant a lower risk of heart trouble. The one-third of people with the highest scores were considered high risk, while one-third were deemed intermediate risk, and the rest low risk. Among the 33 percent of people at highest genetic risk, those with the highest fitness levels were 49 percent less likely to develop coronary heart disease, versus the least fit. They also were 60 percent less likely to develop atrial fibrillation. Ingelsson's team assigned each person a "genetic risk score," based on whether they carried various genetic variants that have been tied to heart disease risk. Over six years, slightly fewer than 21,000 people suffered a heart attack, atrial fibrillation, or other cardiovascular complications. People in the high genetic risk cohort were 77 percent more likely to develop coronary heart disease compared to people at low genetic risk.