Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that sweating while exercising can significantly reduce the risk of strokes in both men and women.

Exercising is known to have a positive effect on the health of a person by reducing obesity and staying fit. A study also noted that exercising can be very effective in eliminating some diseases too. The findings of a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham stated that sweating while exercising can significantly reduce the risk of strokes in both men and women.

For the study, researchers analyzed 27,000 stroke-free blacks and whites aged 45 and older in the United States from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.  They were divided into three categories:

• Active: including people who did no workouts in a typical week
• Moderately active: worked out two or three times a week.
• Vigorously active: workouts more than four times per week

Their self-reported physically active levels were followed for 5.7 years. Researchers noted that 33 percent of the participants reported being physically active and experienced a 20 percent reduction in stroke risks, especially among participants who worked out four times a week or more. While the findings were more evident in men, the link between frequency of workout sessions and reduction in stroke risks in women were less clear.

"The protective effect of intense physical activity may be through its impact on traditional risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes," explained Virginia Howard, Ph.D., UAB professor of epidemiology and senior study author, in a press statement. "These findings confirm past results of studies done in only men or only women in limited geographical areas. By using the REGARDS cohort, our study was able to use a larger and more diverse population to show that participating in regular physical activity is associated with lower stroke risk."

Howard confirms that strokes are preventable and exercising can be a good way of doing so. He also clarifieed that the limitation of the study was that the levels of physical activity were self-reported, leaving a question on its authenticity. Also, researchers didn't have access to the duration of each work out session nor the type of activities the participant indulged in.

The findings are published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.