Physical activity was associated with the health of people since ancient times. Athletes of the ancient Greek civilization, for example, were prominent in society and came to idolize his athletic feats. Throughout the story was relating the longevity of certain populations of the planet with active lifestyles and proper nutrition.
During the second half of the twentieth century a multitude of research has achieved do demonstrate scientifically what was suspected by daily observation data. One of the earliest epidemiological studies was developed in England at the beginning of the 50s by Jeremy Morris, who exercised his medical activity among civil servants in London. Noted for a long time bus drivers and compared the medical developments with the guards, who sold the tickets and walked by the vehicle permanently up and down the stairs. The drivers, who were always seated, had a 35% more heart attacks than the guards. In the U.S., Dr. Paffenbarger continued for over thirty years the evolution of students at Harvard University and found that those who were doing physical exercises after their period of student had a longer life, with about 40 % fewer heart attacks than the sedentary alumni. The 70 was rich in research on the effects of exercise in health. The Cooper Clinic in Texas, he led research projects that were changing the habits of millions of people into a more active life and promoted prevention programs in public health where the exercise was high.
In recent years the attention of cardiologists focused on a very important study conducted in the USA with over 70 thousand nurses. Was observed that after 8 years, women who walked more than 3 hours per week were 35% less coronary artery disease than their sedentary counterparts.
This recent research publications that were added showed a 50% reduction in mortality at 12 years among men older than 30 0 walks of more blocks per day.
In our country, the study FRICAS could demonstrate that the level of inactivity was higher among people who had had a myocardial infarction.
The variety of studies that established the close association between physical activity and cardiovascular health led the American Heart Association to declare the inactivity as a major risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease.
diseases of the heart and arteries occupy a dismal first cause of mortality in the Western world. In its appearance and development involved multiple risk factors within which smoking, cholesterol disorders, hypertension, sedentary lifestyle. diabetes, mental stress and obesity have a place of importance.
Regular physical exercise helps to combat these factors and more, by acting directly on the heart and blood vessels, is one of the most effective in preventing the onset and progression of the disease. In people who have already had heart disease, has shown that exercise in the treatment works, improving the quality and quantity of years lived.
The benefits of exercise are not only related to the prevention of heart disease. Individuals who carry a more active lifestyle “feel better” in their bodies and superior resistance to the various attacks that life and the passage of time restraints. Adults who maintain an active life at older ages to come more readily to work and less reliance on those around them.
It has proven beneficial effects of exercise on the preservation of bone density with a high impact on the prevention of osteoporosis. Different joint and muscle pains are relieved by special exercise sessions and active life prevents the emergence of this type of discomfort.
The leg vein disorders in physical activity are one of the most important and proven forms of treatment. The physical discomfort and aesthetic problems of venous insufficiency generates thousands of women can be prevented and treated with appropriate programs of physical exercises.
But it all ends here: there is a positive relationship between the immune system (the body’s defenses) and physical activity. Several epidemiological studies have explained the lower prevalence of different forms of cancer among physically active people. Recent experience has suggested that women who exercise regularly have less predisposition to breast and uterine tumors.
Physical activity is an essential tool in the prevention and treatment of diabetes. On the other hand, is an indisputable element in the treatment of hypertension.
