Doing Everyday Chores Isn't Enough to Protect You From Stroke

Key Takeaways

• Household or work activities don’t appear to protect against stroke

• Active exercise during leisure time did lower stroke risk

• So did commuting by biking or walking

WEDNESDAY, July 31, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Puttering around the home or office isn’t enough to protect a person from stroke, a new study says.

People need to be more active to lower their stroke risk, either by exercising in their free time or biking or walking to work, results show.

“Physical activity during leisure time and as transportation is becoming increasingly important now that many jobs and domestic activities are becoming more sedentary,” lead author Dr. Adam Viktorisson , a researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, said in a news release.

For the study , researchers analyzed health data for more than 3,600 people in Sweden who were tracked for about two decades.

Overall, high levels of physical activity in leisure time were tied to a 66% lower risk of dying from a stroke or suffering a debilitating stroke, researchers found.

Those who regularly engaged in moderate-intensity exercise had a 46% lower risk of stroke, researchers found. Examples include brisk walking, water aerobics, slow bicycling, ballroom dancing or playing doubles tennis.

Regular high-intensity exercise lowered risk even more, dropping it by 53%. Examples include running, swimming laps, jumping rope, fast bicycling or aerobic dancing.

Further, people who bike or walk to work had a 31% lower risk of stroke, researchers found.

However, household physical activity or time spent at work was not associated with any decrease in stroke.

“How and when we carry out physical activity seems to play a crucial role in determining its health benefits,” Viktorisson said. “In our study, leisure time and transport-related physical activities were associated with a lower risk of stroke, whereas activities during work time or in the household were not.”

The findings regarding work time were particularly surprising, given that some jobs can require lots of physical effort.

“Physically demanding jobs are often linked to stress, little opportunity for recovery, air pollution and generally poorer socioeconomic conditions, which can counteract the positive effects of physical activity,” Viktorisson said.

The new study was published recently in JAMA Network Open .

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has examples of moderate versus intense exercise .

SOURCE: University of Gothenburg, news release, July 29, 2024

What This Means For You

People need to allot free time to exercise if they want to lower their stroke risk, or walk or bike to work.