Doctors issue five disease warnings to people who don’t exercise

Doctors have issued five separate health warnings to people who don't exercise regularly, saying there is a serious risk if you don't get active.

By now, we know the general health benefits that are associated with doing some form of exercise.

From playing football and rugby to going on a hike or running five kilometres, working out can help manage your weight and keep your muscles strong, lower the risk of disease, and even increase cardiovascular health.

"Whatever your age, there's strong scientific evidence that being physically active can help you lead a healthier and happier life," the NHS says.

So it really should come as no surprise that those who aren't moving put themselves at risk of serious problems later on in life.

Well, a new study has shone a light on why not doing any kind of exercise can leave you open to five serious health conditions that you would want to avoid, if possible.

Published by the American Academy of Neurology in late February, the report looked at people who get moderate to vigorous physical activity on a regular basis.

And its findings? Not good if you don't work out.

Not exercising is terrible for your health (Getty Stock Images)

Set to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 77th Annual Meeting taking place from 5 to 9 April in San Diego, the study shows that you likely to develop dementia, stroke, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders if you get up and take part in exercise or any kind.

The study also found that the more time people spent sitting, the more likely they were to develop one of these diseases.

Study author Jia-Yi Wu, MD, of Fudan University in Shanghai, China, explained: "This research highlights the role of physical activity and sedentary behaviour as modifiable factors that may enhance brain health and reduce the incidence of these diseases.

"It is promising to think that encouraging people to make these lifestyle changes could potentially lessen the burden of these diseases in the future."

Yoga is just one form of exercise you can benefit from (Getty Stock Images)

Researchers looked at data from 73,411 people in the United Kingdom with an average age of 56 who wore accelerometer devices continuously for seven days to measure their physical activity, how much energy they used on their activities, and how much time they spent sitting each day.

Metabolic equivalents, or METs, were used to quantify energy expenditure. Moderate to vigorous physical activity was defined as activities with an energy expenditure of at least three METs, where walking or cleaning was three METs and more intense exercise like cycling could be around six METs, depending on speed.

People who had moderate to vigorous physical activity energy expenditure were 14 percent to 40 percent less likely to develop the five diseases than those who had lower energy expenditure, depending on how active they were.

Fancy a bit of swimming? (Getty Stock Images)

The people who did not develop any of the diseases had an average daily moderate to vigorous physical activity energy expenditure of 1.22 kilojoules per kilogram, compared to 0.85 for the people who developed dementia, 0.95 for those who developed sleep disorders, 1.02 for stroke, 1.08 for depression and 1.10 for anxiety.

The more time people spent sitting, the higher their risk of developing one of the diseases, with the increase ranging from five percent to 54 percent higher than those who spent the least amount of time sitting.

“Some previous studies have relied on people reporting on their own levels of activity,” Wu said.

“With our large number of participants and the use of devices that provide objective measurements of activity levels, these results will have implications for assessing risk factors and developing interventions to prevent the development of these diseases.”

A limitation of the study was that 96 percent of the participants were white people, so the results may not apply to other groups.