In the second half of August, Stroke published data from an analysis of a big cohort of apparently healthy people showing an association between excessive sitting during their leisure time combined with low physical activity and an increased risk of stroke.
The authors used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey between 2000 and 2012 to create a cohort of healthy individuals aged at least 40 without prior stroke, heart disease, or cancer. The association between self-reported leisure sedentary time (categorized as <4, 4 to <6, 6 to <8, and 8+ hours/day) and risk of stroke was quantified using Cox regression models and competing risk regression, assessing for modification by physical activity, age, and sex and adjusting for demographic, vascular, and social factors.
There were 143 180 people in the cohort and 2965 stroke events in follow-up. Median time from survey response to stroke was 5.6 years. The risk of stroke with 8+ hours of sedentary time was significantly elevated only among individuals <60 years of age who were in the lowest physical activity quartile (fully adjusted hazard ratio, 4.50 [95% confidence interval, 1.64–12.3]). Similar risk elevations were not observed among individuals aged 60-79 years, or those older than 80. And among people younger than 60, high physical activity appeared to eliminate the additional risk imposed by excess sedentary leisure time.
The authors emphasize that this study is particularly a message for younger individuals who can to change lifestyle for prevent stroke. Most people can't do very much about how they work their job, which is supposed to be sedentary in many professions. Therefore, our leisure time choices which we can control are of paramount importance.
Reference: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/STROKEAHA.121.034985
