Even a 5-minute run can help prevent heart disease

Good news for runners: A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggests running, even for a few minutes a day, can reduce your risk of dying from heart disease–whether you plod along or go at race speed.

Researchers studied more than 55,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 100 over a 15-year period, looking at their overall health, whether they ran and how long they lived.

Compared to nonrunners, those who ran had a 30% lower risk of death from all causes and a 45% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, investigators found. In fact, runners on average lived three years longer than those who did not hit the pavement. When data was broken down by age, sex, body mass index, and smoking and alcohol use, the benefits were still the same.

“That’s important to note,” said Dr. Warren Levy, a cardiologist and chief medical officer of Virginia Heart in northern Virginia. “Even with all the negative factors, such as obesity, smoking and diabetes, those who were, let’s say, obese and ran had a less likely chance of dying from heart problems than those obese people who didn’t run. Same with smokers, diabetics, etc. “

The speed and frequency of a person’s running routine did not make a huge difference either. The data showed novice runners who ran less than 51 minutes, fewer than 6 miles, slower than 6 miles per hour, or only one or two times per week still had a lower risk of dying than those who did not put on running shoes.

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