Does breaking a sweat prevent having a stroke?

Recent research by the American Heart Association featured in their Journal “Stroke” revealed a surprising connection between breaking a sweat and preventing a stroke. Some of the highlights from their findings included:

• Breaking a sweat while working out regularly may help lower your stroke risk.
• Inactive people were more likely to experience a stroke or mini-stroke.
• Regular activity seems to lower stroke risk by reducing blood pressure, weight and blood sugar.

The candidates from the 5+ year studied were over 45 years old. One-third of those studied reported they were inactive. Consistency in the fitness regime of men who worked out four or more times a week revealed a lower risk of stroke. The women reviewed had less clear statistics on the frequency between stroke and activity.

Vigorous workouts (breaking a sweat) seemed to be the key to lowering the risk. Those who were inactive had a greater risk (20%) of experiencing a stroke or mini-stroke.

“The stroke-lowering benefits of physical activity are related to its impact on other risk factors,” said Michelle McDonnell, Ph.D., study author and Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the International Centre for Allied Health Evidence, University of South Australia. “Exercise reduces blood pressure, weight and diabetes. If exercise was a pill, you’d be taking one pill to treat four or five different conditions.”

Inactivity rates under high blood pressure as being the most closely related factor to having a stroke. The study incorporated participants from the “Regards” (Reasons for Geographic and Ethnics Differences in Stroke) study. Participants were mostly from the southeast region of the United States, a.k.a. The “Stroke Belt” (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) evenly incorporating both male and females.

Everything from quitting smoking to increasing activity, eating healthy and simply walking helped to decrease the risk of stroke. Activity includes:

Moderate to intense physical activity 30 minutes five days a week or 20 minutes of intense activity three days a week (total of 150 minutes of moderate to intense activity weekly)

Muscle strengthening exercise involving major muscle groups two days a week activity.

It is vitally crucial to stay hydrated (drink at least 16 oz of water an hour while working out). Breaking a sweat = losing body fluid. Our heart needs the fluid to help pump blood through the blood vessels. The heart works harder when we’re dehydrated. Especially during extremely hot, humid weather, our heart needs water, consistently. Whether you’re exercising, gardening or working in a physically demanding job, always have plenty of water on hand. Normally, we should consume half our body weight in ounces of water, daily. However, when it’s hot outside we need to increase our water intake (maybe doubling it) to help our heart not to become overworked.

References: http://newsroom.heart.org/news/breaking-a-sweat-while-exercising-regularly-may-help-reduce-stroke-risk

Quick Tips for Wellness: Lower your risk of a stroke by incorporating consistent fitness and healthy nutrition.

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