In a new study, researchers found that exercises such as walking and strength training may help reduce the risk of chronic liver disease.
They found these exercises were linked to a much lower risk of cirrhosis-related death.
The research was conducted by a team from Harvard Medical School.
Chronic liver disease is increasing in the U.S. dramatically, and the obesity epidemic may contribute to it.
It has been unknown what type of exercise is best to prevent the disease.
In the study, the team followed 68,449 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and 48,748 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
These people had no liver disease at the beginning of the study. They provided highly accurate data on their physical activity every two years from 1986 through 2012.
The team found that people had the highest levels of weekly walking had a 73% lower risk for death from chronic liver disease than those had the lowest levels of walking.
In addition, combining walking and muscle-strengthening exercises were linked to further risk reduction.
The findings suggest that both walking and strength training contribute to substantial reductions in risk of cirrhosis-related death.
The researchers hope these findings will help provide specific exercise recommendations for patients at risk for chronic liver disease.
Future research needs to define the optimal intensity of physical activity to protect patients at risk for liver disease.
This is the first study in a large U.S. population to include detailed measurements of physical activity over a prolonged period.
The leader of the study is Tracey Simon, MD, instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.
The study was presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2019.
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