The Fit4Life Campaign by the NHS is well known as is the advice that people should all take more exercise in order to stay slim and have a healthy heart. However, exercising briskly once a day may not be enough to ward off heart disease, diabetes and the big ‘C’.

The fact that people now spend hours every day sitting down (whether in front of their computer at the office or watching TV with family). For most, advances in technology have meant a shift away from manual jobs and other physical activities and this starts right from childhood, with children playing ball on their X-box instead of actually playing it in reality.

A study at the American College of Cardiology found that the amount of exercise a person got made no difference to the amount of coronary artery calcification they had, suggesting that the major culprit of heart attacks was sitting still too long.

Although getting enough exercise is still vitally important, it may not entirely negate the effects of a mostly sedentary lifestyle on coronary heart disease.

Previous studies have shown that too much sitting increases your risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and dying too young. This latest study suggests that long periods of sitting are an early marker for heart disease. This is an exciting finding because it may be that people can reverse the initial stages of the disease by modifying their behaviour.

After analysing heart scans and the diaries of physical activity of 2,000 American adults, the researchers found that for each hour of sedentary behaviour, there was a 14% increase in coronary artery calcification so reducing the amount of time sitting still by just one or two hours a day could improve a person’s future cardiovascular health and decrease their chance of having a heart attack.

If any person would like a routine scan to check their heart, they are having unpleasant symptoms and need reassurance or they would like advice on how to safeguard their cardiovascular health, The London Cardiac Group offers private consultations with a heart specialist in London, electrocardiograms to check the electrical activity of the heart and other investigations such as echocardiography and exercise stress testing. They also welcome patients who self-refer so anyone worried about their health need not wait for a GP referral.

All staff are caring, warm and professional and look forward to welcoming new clients to their clinic. For TLC for the heart, contact the London Cardiac Group.