Overview
- Researchers reported Monday in the European Heart Journal that people who do more vigorous activity face lower risks of eight major diseases.
- The study used wrist-worn accelerometers on 96,408 UK Biobank participants for one week and matched those readings to health outcomes over seven years.
- Compared with no vigorous activity, the highest vigorous share was tied to a 63% lower risk of dementia, a 60% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and a 46% lower risk of death.
- Meaningful links appeared even with very small amounts of intense effort, such as a few minutes a day or roughly 15–20 minutes per week from stair climbs or brisk bursts.
- Intensity mattered most for inflammatory conditions like arthritis and psoriasis, while both time and intensity mattered for diabetes and chronic liver disease, and authors cautioned the findings are observational and high-intensity exercise is not safe for everyone.