March 2019 Newsletter

A ccording to a new study out of the Cleveland Clinic, cardiologist and senior study author, Dr. Wael Jaber, found that “Being unfit on a treadmill or in an exercise stress test has a worse prognosis, as far as death, than being hypertensive, being diabetic or being a current smoker. We've never seen something as pronounced as this and as objective as this."  

In a recent interview with CNN, Jaber said that their researchers now have to do the hard work of conveying the risks to the general public that “being unfit should be considered as strong of a risk factor as hypertension, diabetes and smoking -- if not stronger than all of them. It should be treated almost as a disease that has a prescription , which is called exercise ”.  

The good news for Live 2 B Healthy® class participants, is that the benefits of exercise were seen across all ages and in both men and women, " probably a little more pronounced in females," Jaber said. " Whether you're in your 40s or your 80s, you will benefit in the same way."

"If you compare the risk of sitting versus the highest performing on the exercise test, the risk is about three times higher than smoking, " Jaber explained.   

"You should demand a prescription from your doctor for exercise."

~ Dr. Wael Jaber

Dr. Satjit Bhusri, a cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital, said this reinforces what we know. "Sedentary, Western lifestyles have led to a higher incidence in heart disease and this shows that it's modifiable. It's reversible," he explained, adding that doctors are really good at treating patients who have had cardiovascular events but they can be prevented .  "We're meant to walk, run, exercise. It's all about getting up and moving."  

In the US, we spend more than $200 billion per year treating patients who suffer from cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Rather than paying these huge sums of money for disease treatment, we should be encouraging people to be active and to exercise daily.  

"We hope that hearing about these new test results will encourage more seniors to consider joining our classes. It’s something we have known all along, but this new study really drives home the fact that exercise is vitally important for everyone, regardless of age !” 

Cory Czepa

Live 2 B Healthy®

Founder & President