Irregular heartbeat can be cut in half in post-menopausal women simply by incorporating exercise

By now most of us know the abundance benefits of regular physical activity in our daily lives. It can help us control our weight, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, strengthen your bones and muscles, and enhance mental health, and help you live longer, to name a few.

According to the American Heart Association, when the heart is beating improperly, it is unable to pump blood effectively. This means that the lungs, brain, and other organs cannot work properly, which can potentially shut down completely. (1) Exercise is one way to avoid that.

Post-menopausal women are less likely to suffer from arrhythmias when physical activity is increased.

When the heart is unable to work properly, life-threatening situations could arise. For example, certain conditions can lead to heart failure and stroke. (2) But recent researchers found that post-menopausal women who are the most physically active had a 10% lower risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF) compared to women that exercise less, even for the obese.

The study led by Dr. Marco V. Perez at the Inherited Arrhythmia Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine, and his team analyzed data from large, long-term Women’s Health Initiative study. Researchers found that women who exercised 5 to 6 days a week with a 30-minute brisk walk every time, reduced the risk by 10%. (3)

Even obese women and reduce the risk by engaging in physical activity.

Generally, obese women are most likely to develop AF, however, incorporating regular physical activity reduced that risk!

Obese, sedentary women’s risk was 30% higher than that of sedentary with normal BMI, and 44% higher than normal weight women who exercised. On the other hand, obese women who exercised had only a 17% higher risk than normal weight women who exercised.  Dr. Perez says, “These are women not engaged in extreme forms of exercise, and what we found was that women who engaged in more exercise actually had a lower risk of AF. The more obese you were, the more you benefited.” (4)

Making good lifestyle choices, you can personally make a difference in your own health.

It’s always a great reminder that exercise is important for our health, even for those who suffer from certain ailments. Regular physical activity is better than nothing. As little as 30 minutes a day, you can reap great benefits! It’s also a good reminder to think carefully of our own lifestyle choices. How we treat our bodies now can make a tremendous difference in the future. This applies to even post-menopausal women going through “the change.”

The real difference is in the quality and quantity of our lives through lifestyle choices.