2023-04-27 13:07:36
A daily walk or a half-hour ride is enough to keep your arteries and heart healthy. These are, in summary, the indications of the Italian Society for Cardiovascular Prevention (Siprec) in preparation for the third Italian Day for cardiovascular prevention, scheduled for 12 May, promoted by the same scientific society.
Over 30% of the Italian population considers themselves sedentary – underlines Siprec in a note – and the prevalence of physical inactivity it grows with advancing age, inevitably causing significant pathologies and, in general, a deterioration in health. In particular, a sedentary lifestyle is the cause of 9% of cardiovascular diseasesi, according to the data processed by the Italian surveillance system Passi (Progress of healthcare companies for health in Italy) in the two-year period 2020-2021. “For years, numerous scientific studies have included physical inactivity among the main cardiovascular risk factors and even as the fourth cause of mortality in the world – says Alessandro Biffi, specialist in Cardiology and Sports Medicine and member of the Governing Council of Siprec, as well as of the Scientific Commission of the Coni Sports Medicine Federation and of Med-Ex, the medical partner company of the Scuderia Ferrari – On the other hand, it is clear that physical activity, perhaps carried out according to the minimum standards indicated by the Guidelines of the European Cardiology Society, plays a crucial role in the prevention of risk factors. The indications are simple and can be followed by everyone: 150 minutes a week of simple activity such as a light jog, a walk or a ride is enough”.
The Cardiovascular Prevention Day therefore has the objective of bringing attention to the importance of physical activity as one of the most important factors that determine public health, both in the so-called primary prevention – specifies Siprec – and in secondary prevention, i.e. started after the event of the disease. “Physical movement after the onset of a cardiovascular pathology with important complications – Biffi points out – is now included in rehabilitation plans, in the same way as pharmacological treatment. Furthermore, an important motivation in favor of constant physical activity should not be overlooked: the strengthening of the immune system, our natural barrier against any type of adverse event.Many recent studies have shown, for example, that those who used to do constant and daily physical activity have not contracted Covid or have managed its course better, without respiratory complications”.
Moving and abandoning a sedentary lifestyle is not only good for the cardiovascular system – Siprec points out – but it also proves to be a good weapon against the onset of neoplastic or arthritic pathologies, as well as providing psychological well-being. Good collective health also means savings for the health service and resources that are freed up to be used in a more effective and targeted way.
From the data of the ‘Stet Up’ report, published jointly by the European Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it appears that the increase in physical activity, in addition prevent thousands of premature deaths, saves billions of euros in annual health care costs. The report of the The European House-Ambrosetti Forum, referring to our country, acts as a sounding board for the WHO and OECD report, from which it can be deduced that if sporting practice were in the OECD average, Italy could save around 32 billion up to 2050. Specifically, increasing sports practice to the minimum recommended levels would prevent over 11 million new cases of noncommunicable diseases by 2050, including 3.8 million cases of cardiovascular disease. In the general European panorama, Italy is in second place for public health expenditure due to a sedentary lifestyle, with an annual cost of approximately 3.8 billion euros, understood as the sum of direct and indirect costs, and an incidence on the total public and private health expenditure equal to 1.7% of GDP. It could be estimated that each less sedentary person in Italy would free up around 170 euros of economic resources in addition to the thousands of fewer early deaths due precisely to the consequences of physical inactivity.
“We need to reverse course – exhorts Biffi – by investing precisely in prevention and education. It goes without saying, but it is always worth repeating: we need to start from schools, youth meeting places and family doctor clinics. It will be up to the institutions, then, organize national communication and information campaigns to spread the message according to which physical activity is a true act of defense of public health”.
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