After following nearly 500,000 people for 12 years, American researchers show that climbing a certain number of steps per day helps clear the arteries.
It is no longer in doubt that regular physical activity improves heart health. Through sports sessions but also daily efforts. An American study shows that walking up floors (rather than taking the elevator, for example) has a real impact on the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD), in other words all diseases caused by the accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries such as coronary heart disease, accident ischemic stroke.
Going up 1 floor already has effects on your heart
To achieve these results published at the end of September 2023 in the journal Atherosclerosisresearchers from Tulane University in Louisiana (United States) studied data from 458,860 adult participants from the UK Biobank. Researchers calculated participants’ susceptibility to cardiovascular disease based on their family history, established risk factors, and genetic risk factors and asked participants about their lifestyle habits and frequency of stair climbing at the start of the year. investigation and 5 years after departure. At the end of followed (which lasted 12 and a half years), the researchers recorded 39,043 cases of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
► People who climb 1 floor per day (approximately 10 steps climbed quickly) have 3% less risk to develop atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease compared to the reference group (climbing stairs 0 times/day)
► People who climb 2 flights of stairs per day (approximately 20 steps climbed quickly) have 16% less risk to develop atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease compared to the reference group (climbing stairs 0 times/day)
► People who climb 5 floors per day or more (approximately 50 steps quickly climbed) have 19% less risk to develop atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease compared to the reference group (climbing stairs 0 times/day)
Many people do not experience any symptoms until the fatty plaque ruptures.
“Short, high-intensity stair climbs are an effective way to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and the lipid profile (cholesterol and triglycerides levels), especially in people unable to meet current physical activity recommendations“said Dr. Lu Qi, author of the study and professor at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University (USA). Because these diseases develop silently, many people do not experience any symptoms, until one day the fatty plaque unexpectedly ruptures in the arteries, which can cause a heart attack or stroke depending on the vascular territory affected.
- Daily stair climbing, disease susceptibility, and risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: A prospective cohort study