Moving every 20 minutes can help heart patients prolong life
According to a new study, heart patients can prolong their life if they interrupt their sedentary lifestyle and move around every 20 minutes. The study was presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress (CCC) 2018. Visiting experts from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) also participated in joint scientific sessions with the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) as part of the ESC Global Activities programme. Heart patients spend most of their waking hours sitting, lying down, and watching television. Previous research has shown that being sedentary for long periods could shorten life but taking breaks to move around may counteract the risk, particularly if it means burning more than 770 kcal a day. This study investigated how many breaks should be taken, and for what duration, if one needs to expend 770 kcal. "Our study shows that heart patients should interrupt sedentary time every 20 minutes with a 7-minute bout of light physical activity. Simple ...