Just 5 more minutes of exercise, 10 more of sleep may lower heart disease risk

• A new study examined how smaller lifestyle changes impact cardiovascular health.
• The research team followed more than 50,000 people for around 8 years and tracked habits such as sleep, nutrition, and exercise.
• At the end of the study, the researchers learned that even modest lifestyle habit changes across multiple areas were beneficial to heart health.
• The findings suggest that focusing on multiple, manageable lifestyle changes may be more effective and sustainable than trying to make a large change in a single area.

Researchers based in Australia used data from the U.K. Biobank to see how changes in daily habits affect heart health.

Since heart disease is often affected by modifiable lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, these factors are often among the first things healthcare providers target when heart health issues arise.

Since large lifestyle changes can be difficult to maintain, the researchers wanted to find out whether smaller, combined changes could still improve heart disease risk.

Their findings are published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.