Regular exercise as beneficial as drugs for heart patients

Regular exercise can be as good as drugs for people living with conditions such as heart disease.

This is according joint research between researchers at the London School of Economics, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute at Harvard Medical School and Stanford University School of Medicine.

They looked at hundreds of trials involving almost 340,000 people to compare the benefits exercise has when it comes to preventing premature death and compared the results against figures for medications.

Exercise was found to be as beneficial as a number of drugs given to those with cardiac issues and even outperformed some stroke medications.

However, the researchers stressed that patients should not stop taking drugs in favour of doing more exercise. They feel that exercise and medicines should go hand in hand.

Figures show that only a third of Brits get enough exercise each week. It is recommended that people get the equivalent of 25 minutes of physical activity each day.

Amy Thompson, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Medicines are an extremely important part of the treatment of many heart conditions and people on prescribed drugs should keep taking their vital meds.

"If you have a heart condition or have been told you're at high risk of heart disease, talk to your doctor about the role that exercise can play in your treatment."

Dr Peter Coleman from the Stroke Association added that more research should be carried out on the long-term benefits of exercise for stroke patients as previous studies have suggested that physical activity reduces the risk of a stroke by 27 per cent.

The NHS Choices website says exercises reduces the chances of serious illness by 50 per cent, lower risk of premature death by 30 per cent and improve mood, self-esteem and sleep quality.

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