Study Confirms Links between Exercise and Heart Health

A respected presence in the Marietta, Georgia, community, Robert Windsor, MD, expanded National Pain Care, Inc., to include numerous health care centers with a similar quality focus. Respected in areas such as exercise and fitness, Robert Windsor, MD, is the author of the article “The Evidence-Based Exercise Prescription.”

One area of long-term research activity to which Dr. Windsor draws attention is the U.S. Nurses’ Health Study, which began in 1976 and involved the participation of more than 120,000 female nurses within the 30 to 55 age group. Lasting decades, this longitudinal study revealed an inverse correlation between increased incidences of colon cancer and multivitamin and folate use.

Another area of analysis within the study centered on the relationship between exercise and heart disease, with physical activity information collected and compared with clinical examinations for nearly a decade. Among the areas tested each year were mass index, fasting plasma glucose levels, and blood pressure, as well as hypertension.

With proper adjustments in place, elevated total physical activity was found to correlate with reduced coronary event risks. Women who walked briskly at least one to three hours weekly had their coronary event risk reduced by 30 percent, as compared with sedentary women. A key finding of this and other studies has been that vigorous exercise boosts quality of life and fitness and does not cause harm.

The Importance of Exercise For Those in the Least Fit Category

Based in Marietta, Georgia, Robert Windsor, MD, most recently guided National Pain Care, Inc., as chief medical officer and oversaw the expansion of a leading company in its field. In his paper “The Evidence-Based Exercise Prescription,” Robert Windsor, MD, brings focus to the importance of fitness in decreasing incidence of injuries and chronic disease as adults age. 

University of Toronto physicians have found that both muscle strength and aerobic power decline by approximately 10 percent each decade during adult life. At the same time, a “progressive exercise prescription” is effective in boosting function by between 10 and 20 percent. This means that proper conditioning can elevate functional capacities in ways that decrease biological age by as much as two decades. 

The most significant health results from a consistent fitness routine are experienced among those who started out in the “least fit” category. A major difference in mortality rates is recorded among those in that range and those in the next category upward. By contrast, an Institute for Aerobic Fitness study found only a small difference in likelihood of dying from chronic disease among those in the high fitness category and those in the medium-fitness category.