Inactivity linked to pulmonary embolism risk

Inactivity has not yet been shown to increase risk for VTE, until now. Among 69,000 women in the Nurses Health Study 1990-2008, the cohort that spent the most time sitting experienced twice as many pulmonary emboli as the cohort that spent the least time sitting, with a hazard ratio of 2.34 after mulitvariate analysis, report Kabrhel et al. Interestingly, increased physical activity was not associated with decreased PE risk. BMJ 2011;343:d3867.