A new study suggests that we have to make sure we literally sweat out during exercise to effectively reduce our risk to stroke.
The researchers found those who exercise at least four times a week have a reduced chance of developing stroke to 16 percent, compared those who don’t exercise at all which has a 20 percent chance.
Michelle McDonnell, lead author of the study and a lecturer in physiotherapy at the University of South Australia, and her colleagues recruited 30,230 Americans with ages 45 and above. The researchers reduced the number of respondents to exclude those who had previous history of stroke so they ended up with 27,348 participants for their study. The population was the participants from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.
The participants were asked about the intensity of exercise they do and the frequency as well. The researchers gave them three options: no exercise at all, one to three times a week, and at least four times a week. A third of the respondents said they don’t exercise.
The researchers proceeded to analyzing the medical records of all the respondents and classified them into ischemic or hemorrhagic after 5.7 years of follow-up. Ischemic stroke occurs when an artery to the brain is blocked while hemorrhagic stroke occurs when the blood vessels rupture inside the brain.
They concluded that those who sweat out in the gym, bike to work, or engage on similar activities for at least four times a week had a reduced risk of developing stroke compared with those who don’t exercise with a hazard ration of 1.20 (95% CI 1.02-1.42). Those who exercise one to three times a week are also at lower risk from those who had no physical activity with a hazard ratio of 1.16 (95% CI 0.98-1.42). The researchers already factored in the age, gender, race, residence, and socioeconomic status.
This study highlights the importance of literally sweating out as the researchers had observed that those who sweat out at least four times a week were generally more fit, had lower blood pressure, and had smaller BMI data even if they drink alcohol regularly.
The study was published in the journal Stroke.
