Daily exercise may boost your heart even in polluted areas
London, July 18: People who continue with their regular physical activities may have reduced risk of first and recurrent heart attack even in the areas with moderate-to-high levels of traffic pollution, a new study suggests.
The findings suggests that higher levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) -- a pollutant generated by traffic -- were associated with more heart attacks, but the risk was lower among those who were physically active.
"Our study shows that physical activity even during exposure to air pollution, in cities with levels similar to those in Copenhagen, can reduce the risk of heart attack," said lead author Nadine Kubesch from the University of Copenhagen.
For the study, published in Journal of the American Heart Association, the researchers in Denmark, Germany and Spain evaluated outdoor physical activity levels (sports, cycling, walking and gardening) and NO2 exposure in 51,868 adults aged between 50-65 years.
The researchers also compared self-reported activities and lifestyle factors against heart attack and to estimate average NO2 exposure, they used national traffic pollution monitoring data for each participants' address.
They found that moderate cycling for four or more hours per week cut risk for recurrent heart attack by 31 per cent and there was a 58 per cent reduction when all four types of physical activity (together totalling four hours per week or more) were combined, regardless of air quality.
Those who participated in sports had a 15 per cent lower rate of initial heart attacks and there was a nine per cent risk reduction associated with cycling, the researchers said.
Compared to participants with low residential NO2 exposure, those in higher risk areas had a 17 per cent increase risk in first heart attack and 39 per cent for recurrent heart attack, they added.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
