Owning TV, car ups heart attack risk

UPPSALA, Sweden, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- 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, published in the European Heart Journal, 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 percent for mild activity and 24 percent for moderate or strenuous exercise. Heavy physical labor did not reduce risk at all.

The study found 25 percent 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.