Skip to main content

Take the Stairs & Step Up to Longer Life

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on April 26, 2024.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 26, 2024 -- Want to live longer? Choose the stairs over the elevator, a new review suggests.

Folks who regularly climb stairs have a 24% reduced risk of dying from any cause, and a 39% reduced risk of dying from heart disease, compared to those who always take the elevator, researchers found.

Stair climbing also is associated with a lower risk of developing heart disease or suffering a heart attack, heart failure or stroke, results show.

“If you have the choice of taking the stairs or the lift, go for the stairs as it will help your heart,” researcher Dr. Sophie Paddock, of the University of East Anglia and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Foundation Trust in Norwich, U.K..

Stair climbing is a practical, easily accessible form of physical activity, Paddock said. Despite this, it’s often overlooked by folks rushing to get to a higher floor.

“Even brief bursts of physical activity have beneficial health impacts, and short bouts of stair climbing should be an achievable target to integrate into daily routines,” Paddock said.

For the study, researchers pooled data from nine studies involving more than 480,000 people. Studies were included regardless of the number of flights people climbed or the speed at which they took them.

“Based on these results, we would encourage people to incorporate stair climbing into their day-to-day lives,” Paddock said in a news release. “Our study suggested that the more stairs climbed, the greater the benefits – but this needs to be confirmed. So, whether at work, home or elsewhere, take the stairs.”

Researchers presented the findings Friday at ESC Preventive Cardiology 2024, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology. Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Sources

  • European Society of Cardiology, news release, April 26, 2024

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted April 2024

Read this next

U.S. Drowning Deaths Rising Again After Years of Decline

TUESDAY, May 14, 2024 (HeathDay News) -- Following decades of declines, drowning deaths are once again climbing in the United States, new government data shows. More than 4,500...

Summer of 2023 Was Hottest in 2,000 Years

TUESDAY, May 14, 2024 -- High temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere last summer were scorching and frequent enough to make it the hottest summer in two millennia, new...

Americans With Private Insurance May Pay More for Hospital Stay

TUESDAY, May 14, 2024 -- Having private insurance may not be all it is cracked up to be when it comes to hospital bills, new research warns. In a report published Monday by the...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.