The more active you are, the better your heart health will probably be. That's the message from an Indiana University study of middle-aged swimmers. Researcher Maelah Holland of the Counsilman Center at IU Bloomington reported thatparticipants who were vigorous "Master Swimmers" appeared to avoid the arterial stiffening that typically comes with aging.
According to a university news release on May 31st, both men and women in the highly active group had healthy arteries but women in the moderately active and inactive groups showed much more hardening of the arteries than men did in the same groups.
"Oddly, women, particularly the inactive women, show the greatest risk for cardiovascular disease as compared with other groups," Holland wrote in her research report. "Thus, conversely, habitually high levels of physical activity may pose a greater benefit for women than for men."
Commenting on the findings, Director of the Counsilman Center Joel Stager said, "This reinforces the idea that activity could be more influential than aging on some health factors."
