Studies show that taking the stairs every day can reduce your risk of a common cause of stroke by nearly a third.
Researchers followed hundreds of thousands of people in their 50s to find out how often they developed atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heartbeat that is a major risk factor for stroke.
Researchers found that adults who climbed at least 110 steps a day (roughly the equivalent of climbing about seven flights of stairs in a typical home) were 31 percent less likely to develop potentially life-threatening symptoms. I discovered that.
The findings were published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease, and the researchers called for encouraging people to go up and down stairs as a simple and effective way to prevent stroke.
At least two million people in the UK suffer from atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart beats rapidly, caused by high blood pressure, chest infections, an overactive thyroid and even excessive consumption of caffeine or alcohol.
It occurs when the electrical activity of the heart becomes abnormal, causing the heart to beat irregularly. It affects 1 in 25 people over the age of 60.
Some people complain of symptoms such as chest pain, dizziness, and fatigue, but many people do not realize they have the disease until they have a stroke.
Irregular electrical activity causes the heart to stop beating regularly, so blood that should be pumped around the body begins to “pool” and thicken inside the left ventricle, the heart’s main pumping chamber.
If a blood clot rises through the narrow blood vessels that feed the brain, it can cut off the oxygen-rich blood supply to the brain and cause a fatal stroke.
Research shows that climbing at least 110 steps a day (equivalent to climbing about seven typical household stairs) can reduce your chances of developing potentially life-threatening symptoms by 31%. Understood
If the blood clot then breaks away and travels upstream through the narrow blood vessels that feed the brain, it can cut off the oxygen-rich blood supply to the brain and cause a potentially fatal stroke.
According to the Arrhythmia Alliance, atrial fibrillation causes around 16,000 strokes a year in the UK.
Experts from Tianjin Medical University in Tianjin, China, analyzed data on the use of stairs and the general health of nearly half a million British people taking part in a long-term health project called the UK Biobank.
None of the participants had heart disease when they entered the study, and those who developed the disease were followed for 12 years.
The results showed that people who climbed at least 110 flights of stairs each day were much less likely to develop atrial fibrillation than those who rarely used stairs.
Previous research has shown that taking the stairs can help maintain heart health and improve memory and concentration.
“Our findings suggest that promoting regular stair climbing may be a potential target for atrial fibrillation prevention,” the researchers said in their report.
