Heard of walking 10,000 steps a day for a healthy heart? Well, you might not even need to realize that threshold for stopping certain heart diseases. A latest study has found that climbing greater than five flights of stairs every day could slash the danger of atherosclerotic heart problems.
The team that evaluated the connection between intensity of stair climbing and atherosclerotic heart problems (ASCVD) found that taking greater than five flights of stairs (climbing roughly 50 steps) every day could cut down the danger by 20%. The findings were published within the journal Atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerotic heart problems is a condition by which arteries in the guts get clogged up with fats or cholesterol, called plaques, which could potentially trigger a heart attack. Within the U.S. 75% of heart attacks occur from plaque rupture.
Researchers of the newest study analyzed data from 458,860 adult participants of the UK Biobank. Using surveys, they collected information in regards to the participants’ stair climbing, sociodemographic and lifestyle aspects at the start of the study and likewise after five years. The participants were followed up for a median of 12.5 years.
“Climbing greater than five flights of stairs (approx. 50 steps) every day was related to a lower risk of ASCVD types independent of disease susceptibility. Participants who stopped stair climbing between the baseline and resurvey had the next risk of ASCVD compared with those that never climbed stairs,” the researchers wrote within the study.
The findings suggest that climbing more stairs reduced the danger of heart problems, particularly in less susceptible people. Researchers recommend stair climbing as a low-cost, accessible physical activity that will be incorporated into every day routine. They hope the more susceptible group could also “effectively offset” the danger by adopting the habit.
“Short bursts of high-intensity stair climbing are a time-efficient technique to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and lipid profile, especially amongst those unable to realize the present physical activity recommendations. These findings highlight the potential benefits of stair climbing as a primary safety measure for ASCVD in the final population,” co-corresponding creator Dr. Lu Qi, from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in Louisiana, said in a news release.
“This study provides novel evidence for the protective effects of stair climbing on the danger of ASCVD, particularly for people with multiple ASCVD risk aspects,” Qi added.