LOS ANGELES, Nov. 25 (Xinhua): Senior men who do moderate-to-high intensity exercise may face a much lower risk of stroke, a new study has suggested.
Older males who did moderate-to-high intensity exercise, such as jogging, swimming or tennis, were 63 percent less likely to have a stroke than people who did not exercise, according to the study conducted by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia.
But this conclusion did not apply to women, said the study, published in the Nov. 24 issue of the journal Neurology.
The study involved almost 3,300 men and women, averaging 69 years of age, who were followed for about nine years. During that period, there were 238 strokes among the participants. At the start of the study, 20 percent of the participants said they did regular moderate-to-high intensity exercise, while 41 percent said they did no physical activity.
Compared with those who did not exercise, men who did moderate-to-high intensity exercise were 63 percent less likely to have a stroke.
Over five years, the baseline risk of ischemic stroke (the leading type of stroke) for all study participants was 4.3 percent. The risk was 2.7 percent for those who did moderate-to-high intensity exercise and 4.6 percent for those who did not exercise.
"Taking part in moderate-to-heavy intensity physical activity may be an important factor for preventing stroke," said study author Dr. Joshua Z. Willey, of Columbia University Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia.
Vigorous exercise reduces stroke risk for senior men
FE Team | Published: November 26, 2009 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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