Published in the American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology, new study examines sex differences in frailty levels and their connection to heart health in middle-aged and older adults. The results suggests that regular exercise and less sitting can reduce heart disease and frailty as we age.

Frailty, is defined as “the accumulation of health deficits,” leading to increased vulnerability to adverse outcomes like frequent healthcare use, poor quality of life, disability, and death. Women, despite living longer than men, have higher frailty levels.

For their study, investigators used data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) to explore the association between frailty, high blood pressure, and heart disease, considering differences between sexes and the role of physical activity.

The CLSA includes nearly 30,000 adults between the ages of 45-85 years old. Participants reported on their health, physical activity levels, and economic stability; underwent physical exams; and provided blood samples. The research team followed up after three years.

Key baseline findings included:

• Men were older, weighed more, and had higher blood pressure than women.
• Men engaged in more physical activity, but both sexes had similar sitting times.
• More men had angina or survived a heart attack.
• More women had peripheral vascular disease and higher frailty rates.

At the three-year follow-up:

• Higher baseline frailty was linked to higher risks of high blood pressure and heart disease in both sexes.
• More sitting and less light-to-moderate activity and strengthening exercises correlated with worse frailty levels in both sexes.
• Less sitting and more strenuous exercise led to lower high blood pressure in both sexes.
• For women, less sitting and strenuous exercise partially explained the link between frailty and high blood pressure.
• Light-to-moderate exercise was particularly beneficial for women.

“Altogether, this study documented the associations between lower frailty levels and better heart health and the favorable impact of movement factors on hypertension among males and females,” the researchers wrote. “…sitting less and engaging in more strenuous physical activity may be feasible interventions for reducing the prevalence of frailty and high blood pressure and uncoupling the link between susceptibility of disease and adverse cardiovascular health.”

So stop making lazy excuses for why you should skip the exercise for the day and just do it. A daily dedication to fitness will reap major benefits in the future in terms of functional and health benefits.

MW O’Brien and O Theou. Relation between frailty and hypertension is partially mediated by physical activity among males and females in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2024). https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00179.2024