How does physical inactivity affect heart disease?

I am not a medical professional, nor am I a licensed physician authorized to practice medicine. All included information is based on research provided by licensed physicians and medical journals/articles.

What is heart disease?

Heart disease is a type of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is any condition that affects the heart and blood vessels. Millions of people suffer from heart disease in the United States. There are different types of heart disease. The most common types of heart disease are coronary artery disease, arrhythmia, heart failure, and heart valve disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), coronary artery disease is the most common type of heart disease in the United States.

How does physical inactivity contribute to the development of heart disease?

Living a sedentary lifestyle can increase your risk of developing heart disease. Physical inactivity can cause a buildup of fatty material in your arteries. Being inactive can damage the blood vessels that carry blood to other organs like the heart; when the blood vessels cannot transport blood to the heart, the risk of a heart attack increases.

How has modern culture affected heart disease statistics concerning physical inactivity?

The link between COVID-19 and heart disease has some validity to researchers. Hospitalization for people who experience COVID-19 symptoms and cardiovascular complications may be difficult. The course of the recovery process has a higher risk of failure because the person is more likely to remain sedentary. In an article called "What COVID-19 is doing to the heart," the author Laura Williamson presented statistics from a recent study that explained,

In JAMA Cardiology, an analysis of autopsies done on 39 COVID-19 patients identified infections in the hearts of patients who had not been diagnosed with cardiovascular issues while they were ill. (Williamson, 2020)

The results of the JAMA Cardiology study do show that patients who had no prior diagnoses of heart issues did experience cardiovascular complications after getting infected with COVID-19. Though there is no definitive evidence that COVID-19 causes cardiovascular complications; the research does show that remaining sedentary can increase the risk of heart disease. Exercise protects the heart by promoting oxygen and blood flow. These patients may have had heart damage because they were unable to exercise. As previously established in the introduction, physical inactivity can lead to heart disease, which may be why heart disease and COVID-19 are linked.

Additionally, in 2020, many people practiced self-quarantine to protect themselves from the virus. In late June, according to the CDC, 31% of adults reported symptoms of anxiety and depression. Researchers believe that persons who lived in isolation from their friends and family were more likely to experience mental illness. The evidence suggests that the fear of COVID-19 increased stress levels for people all over the United States. Numerous people adopted sedentary lifestyles to cope with unfavorable circumstances that trigged or exasperated mental distress.

What is the cost of physical inactivity concerning heart disease?

The public health cost of heart disease is nearly $1 billion a day. According to a CDC foundation article called “Heart Disease and Stroke Cost," Americans spend billions of healthcare dollars a year on treatments, hospitalizations, doctor's appointments, and medicines for heart disease (Stinson 2015). Researchers expect that number to rise steadily over the next 20 years.

The cost of public health also includes loss of productivity due to pain, illness, or death. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) released a report in 2015 that said:

About 630,000 Americans die from heart disease each year. ("Know the Differences")

But upon further research, an article from the CDC, last reviewed in 2021, wrote that about 659,000 people die of heart disease in the US. Over six years, the number of deaths related to heart disease has increased by 29,000 people (Or 1/3 deaths increased to 1/4 deaths). As the death rate increases, public health care costs also grows more expensive. Possibly due to the loss of productivity at home and in the workplace. In a 2017 article from sciencedaily.com, called “Cardiovascular disease costs,” they explained that,

On average, an employee with cardiovascular disease costs his or her employer nearly 60 hours and over $1,100 more in lost productivity per year than an employee without cardiovascular disease. (ScienceDaily, 2017)

Higher health costs can negatively impact the economy. To pay for healthcare, the government may have to raise taxes, seek loans, or withdraw funds from other governmental programs, like Medicare. US health care is the most expensive in the world. If the government cannot provide the American people access to affordable health care, fewer people will have access to health care services because they cannot afford it. Thus decreasing the assessability of treatments for heart disease.

The research study

A research study called “Effect of Exercise Training on Health Status in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure” reported that moderate to vigorous exercise helped improve cardiovascular function in patients with cardiovascular disease. The study researched the effect of aerobic exercise on heart failure patients. The researchers recruited participants with type 2 and 5 heart failure symptoms from the US, Canada, and France. They did not choose people who regularly exercised or were unable to exercise. The scientists created two groups; the first group did not do aerobic exercise while the second group did (Kathryn E. Flynn et al. 2009).

Explaining the evidence

The participants in the second group did aerobic exercises like walking and cycling at 60 – 70% of their heart rate 3 – 5 times a week. The results revealed that after 12 months, 53% of the aerobic exercise group noticed improvements in the overall quality of life, as opposed to 33% of participants in the first group that did not do aerobic exercise. The study displayed that the participants experienced an overall improvement in the quality of their life because they saw notable improvements in oxygen consumption. Their recovery time and ability to sustain exercise also improved. Evidence showing an improvement in walking time by 1.7 minutes and walking distance by 49.8 m further verifies these results. The increase in oxygen flow suggests the participant’s hearts did not have to work as hard to pump blood to the heart and throughout the body. The study did not confirm this, but the participants may have had a lower resting rate in comparison to their previous results, leading to less chest and heart pain. The notable improvement in the statistics also suggests that 53% of participants’ hearts got somewhat stronger, thus helping alleviate some of the symptoms of cardiovascular disease.

The potential next step in the research

The study did exclude statistics about the effects of aerobic exercise on men, Asian and Middle Eastern ethnicities, and younger age groups. The study also neglected to provide a detailed explanation of the impacts of aerobic exercise on different races of people. Instead, the study noted that all races of people who participated received relatively consistent benefits from doing aerobics. I find this exclusion of information fascinating because, according to sciencedaily.com, the public health care cost for heart disease is "expected to triple over the next 20 years for Hispanics, more than double among Blacks and be higher for women than men" (ScienceDaily, 2017). Even if there is little to no distinction between the benefits relative to race and ethnicity, there is still a notable gap between who is participating in exercise intervention and receiving exercise plans. It would also be beneficial to research how aerobic exercise affects variables related to sex and gender. The next step is to examine the effects of aerobic exercise on race, ethnicity, sex, and gender. Additionally, researchers should explore why there is a gap in research.

Conclusion

Heart disease affects millions of people in the United States alone. Heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases cost Americans billions of health care dollars every year. From the evidence presented today, COVID-19 has led to an upsurge in heart disease cases. But exercise interventions can be effective when aerobic exercise is used as treatment. However, there is a gap between the types of people participating in exercise interventions for heart disease.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, August 13). Mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation

during the COVID-19 pandemic - United States, June 24–30, 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, September 27). Heart disease facts.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm.

Flynn, K. E., Piña, I. L., Whellan, D. J., Lin, L., Blumenthal, J. A., Ellis, S. J., Fine, L. J., Howlett, J. G., Keteyian, S. J.,

Kitzman, D. W., Kraus, W. E., Miller, N. H., Schulman, K. A., Spertus, J. A., O'Connor, C. M., Weinfurt, K. P., & HF-ACTION Investigators. (2009, April 8). Effects of exercise training on health status in patients with chronic heart failure: HF-action randomized controlled trial. JAMA. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690699/.

Know the differences: Cardiovascular disease, heart ... (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2021, from

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/FactSheetKnowDiffDesign2020V4a.pdf.

ScienceDaily. (2017, February 14). Cardiovascular disease costs will exceed $1 trillion by 2035. ScienceDaily. Retrieved

November 20, 2021, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170214162750.htm.

Stinson, C. (2015, April 29). Heart disease and stroke cost america nearly $1 billion a day in medical costs, lost

productivity. CDC Foundation. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://www.cdcfoundation.org/pr/2015/heart-disease-and-stroke-cost-america-nearly-1-billion-day-medical-costs-lost-productivity.

US deaths from heart disease and diabetes climbed amid ... (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2021, from

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2021-06-09/us-deaths-from-heart-disease-and-diabetes-climbed-amid-covid.

What covid-19 is doing to the heart, even after recovery. www.heart.org. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2021, from

https://www.heart.org/en/news/2020/09/03/what-covid-19-is-doing-to-the-heart-even-after-recovery.