Numerous studies show that exercise reduces the risk of death, and everyone can benefit from taking time to exercise. A new study focuses on gender differences in the effects of exercise on health, finding that while exercise reduces the risk of death in both men and women, women gain greater benefits from exercise than men.
Participants, whose ages ranged from 27 to 61 years old and 55% were female, answered questions about frequency, duration, intensity and type of physical activity. In addition, the research team collected the subjects' health data as of 2019 and analyzed the relationship between physical activity and mortality.
The analysis found that 39,935 people died during the study period, including 11,670 from cardiovascular disease. They also found that those who exercised 150 minutes or more per week had a lower risk of all-cause death compared with those who were inactive, but the risk was 24% lower in women. The study found a difference between men and women, with a 15% difference for men. Women's risk of heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular disease was reduced by 36% when they exercised, while men's risk was only reduced by 14%.
All adults who were regularly physically active were expected to have a reduced risk of death compared with those who were inactive. But interestingly, the risk of death was reduced by 24% in women; and by 15% in men.
Additionally, men had the greatest reduction in risk of death when they engaged in at least 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, while women had the same effect when they engaged in at least 140 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. As a male. Women's risk of death was also found to decrease as exercise time approached 300 minutes per week. In other words, women get more out of the same amount of time and energy invested in exercise than men.
This study only investigated the correlation between exercise and the risk of death, but did not prove the cause-and-effect relationship of "exercise reduces the risk of death."
