Owning
a car and TV was associated with an increased risk of heart attack, in a
study involving 29,000 people in 52 countries, a Swedish researcher
says. Lead researcher Claes Held of Uppsala University in Sweden and
colleagues analyzed data from 1999 to 2003. One group of more than
10,000 middle-age men and women who had had a single heart attack was
compared with a group of 14,000 who had no history of cardiovascular
disease. Physical activity at work and during leisure time was divided
into levels of exertion. The study found any kind of physical activity
during leisure time was shown to be a plus – compared to doing almost
nothing – with heart attack risk dropping 13% for mild activity and 24%
for moderate or strenuous exercise. Heavy physical labor did not reduce
risk at all. The study found 25% of the respondents in poorer and
middle-income nations who owned a television and a car had an increased
risk of heart attack, and two-thirds of those in rich nations who had a
TV and car had an elevated risk of heart attack.