A recent study suggests that climbing 50 stairs each day can cut the risk of cardiovascular conditions like stroke, blood clots, and heart attacks by as much as 20%.The study compared participants who climbed five flights of stairs each day to those who did not to see these advantages. Walking up steps can be a more challenging form of aerobic exercise since it requires more muscular use and energy expenditure as the body fights against gravity to move upward.

According to a recent study, routinely climbing stairs may dramatically lower your risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in general. According to the study, persons who climbed 50 stairs during the day had a 20% lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those who did not climb any stairs at all. Although the study’s main focus was atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), which also encompasses stroke, heart attacks, and blood clots, its corresponding author claims that the study’s findings are applicable to CVD in general.

The results are presented in the publication Atherosclerosis.

Climbing stairs helps keep your heart healthy.

The authors of the study examined information from 458,860 adult UKBiobank members. They first gathered baseline data on the subjects’ stair climbing, lifestyle, and sociodemographic characteristics, and then they did it again five years later. They kept track of the subjects for 12.5 years. Then, using coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke, or acute complications as markers of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease for this study, they compared the participant’s stair climbing behaviors with these conditions. The researchers assumed that a typical staircase would have ten steps. The incidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease was monitored for those who climbed their stairs between one and five, six and ten, eleven and fifteen, sixteen and twenty, and at least 21 times per day.

Although the largest protective impact of stair climbing was related with individuals not thought to be at special CVD risk due to genetics, stair climbing also reduced the CVD risk of other participants.

How stair climbing is good for your heart

Dr. Cheng-Han Chen, the medical director of the Structural Heart Program at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California, who was not involved in the study, said: “It’s basically [a]n enhanced form of aerobic exercise because not only do you get the motion the movement that you get from the walk  you actually engage other muscle groups.” Walking up stairs is more difficult than walking on flat ground, as you might assume. That’s because you’re pushing yourself up and out, which is equivalent to pushing against gravity, in addition to moving your body. You are truly developing the muscles in your lower body, but you are also developing the muscles in your lower back and core, according to Dr. Chen.

Dr. Chen hypothesized that ascending the stairs quickly would be important because doing so results in a greater workout.

when climbing stairs is challenging

The only activity one can do to enhance and preserve their health is stair climbing, though. Dr. Chen expressed worry over not deterring people from making the best possible efforts. He emphasized that having joint issues can make it difficult to climb even a few stairs, let alone 50. “Even walking on flat ground is wonderful, so I don’t want to discourage people from doing it. Any exercise is preferable to none, he told MNT.

‘Oh, boy, you know, they want us to run up the stairs, and I’m 75 years old, and my joints hurt,’ a reader could think when they read an article. Simply said, I won’t do it. No exercise is possible for me. Walking is undoubtedly preferable to sitting on the couch, but going upstairs is certainly preferable to doing so, said Dr. Chen.

The dangers of cardiovascular illness

According to a 2022 study, 24.0 million Americans, or around 10% of the population over the age of 21, had ASCVD overall in 2019. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 695,000 of the 1.4 million deaths that occurred in the United States in 2021 were attributable to CVD. Annually, 605,000 Americans have their first heart attack; the remaining 805,000 Americans experience repeat attacks. In the West, coronary heart disease which encompasses angina, myocardial infarction, and coronary artery stenosis is the primary factor in 370,000 fatalities each year.

In the United States, approximately 795,000 people have a stroke annually, which results in 137,000 fatalities. Strokes are the top cause of major long-term disability in America and the sixth largest cause of death. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the cause of ischemic strokes, the most prevalent type of stroke. Men experience atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease more frequently than women do in their youth, but this disparity disappears after menopause, possibly as a result of the aging-related loss of women’s protective sex hormones.

REFERENCES:

https://www.wionews.com/trending/climbing-50-stairs-a-day-helps-keep-doctors-away-study-641151
https://www.sciencealert.com/want-to-cut-heart-disease-risk-heres-how-many-flights-of-stairs-to-climb-daily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230929131402.htm
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/climbing-over-50-steps-of-stairs-a-day-may-help-reduce-heart-disease-risk

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