Biobank participants who followed the recommended amount of physical activity for a decade were found to have a 23% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. This protective effect was even more significant in those with depression. Recent research suggests that physical activity helps lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by decreasing stress-related signaling in the brain. The study was conducted by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
According to Dr. Ahmed Tawakol and his colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital, physical activity has been shown to have cardiovascular benefits for people with stress-related conditions such as depression. To understand the mechanisms behind these benefits, they analyzed the medical records and other information of 50,359 participants from the Mass General Brigham Biobank who completed a physical activity survey. Additionally, brain imaging tests and measurements of stress were conducted on a subset of 774 participants.
A study conducted over a period of 10 years found that 12.9% of the participants developed cardiovascular disease. Those who followed the physical activity recommendations had a 23% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease compared to those who did not meet these recommendations.
The research also showed that individuals with higher levels of physical activity had lower stress-related brain activity. Specifically, the decrease in stress-associated brain activity was linked to improvements in the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive function such as decision making and impulse control, and is known to reduce stress.the higher stress-related brain activity, such as those with pre-existing depression,” said lead researcher Dr. Smith.
The study suggests that physical activity not only has direct cardiovascular benefits, but also indirectly reduces the risk of heart disease by reducing stress-related brain signaling. This is an important finding that further supports the importance of regular exercise for maintaining heart health.
The study found that individuals with depression who engage in physical activity may experience reduced stress-related activity in the brain, which may lead to greater cardiovascular benefits. According to Tawakol, further research is necessary to determine the potential mediators and establish causality. In the meantime, clinicians can advise patients that physical activity may have positive effects on the brain and could benefit individuals with stress-related conditions like depression. The study was published in a journal by Hadil Zureigat, Michael T. Osborne, Shady Abohashem, Kenechukwu Mezue, and Charbel Gharios.The study was conducted by Imran Grewal, Alex Cardeiro, Nicki Naddaf, Giovanni Civieri, Taimur Abbasi, Azar Radfar, Wesam Aldosoky, Antonia V. Seligowski, Meagan M. Wasfy, James Sawalla Guseh, Timothy W. Churchill, Rachel P. Rosovsky, Zahi Fayad, Anthony Rosenzweig, Aaron Baggish, Roger K. Pitman, Karmel W. Choi, Jordan Smoller, Lisa M. Shin, and Ahmed Tawakol. The research focused on the impact of stress-related neural pathways on the cardiovascular benefits of physical activity. This study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2024 and can be accessed through the following link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2024.02.029.The article can be found at 10.1016/j.jacc.2024.02.029.