Men who sit for long periods of time are at an increased risk of developing heart failure, even if they exercise regularly, a new study has found.

The term heart failure is used to describe deterioration in the heart's efficiency, when it fails to pump or fill as normal and can no longer provide as much blood as the body needs to carry out its usual functions.

Symptoms can include breathlessness and extreme tiredness. The condition affects around 90,000 people living in Ireland and is responsible for 20,000 hospital admissions here every year.

This marks the first study to look specifically at the link between heart failure and sedentary behaviour.

US researchers followed the progress of over 84,000 men aged between 45 and 69. None of the men had heart failure at the start of the study - all were then monitored for an average of eight years.

The study found that men with low levels of physical activity were 52% more likely to develop heart failure compared to men with high activity levels. This was irrespective of the men's sedentary time.

However, it also found that outside of work, men who sat for five or more hours per day were 34% more likely to develop heart failure compared to men who spent less than two hours per day sitting. These results were irrespective of how much exercise the men undertook.

Overall, men who did not exercise much and sat for at least five hours per day were twice as likely to develop heart failure than men who were very active and who sat for less than two hours per day.

The researchers acknowledged that as no women were included in the study, it is unclear whether the same results can be applied to them.

However, they insisted that the findings support current recommendations for adults to undertake moderate intensity aerobic exercise for at least 150 minutes per week.

"Be more active and sit less. That is the message here," the team from California said.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Circulation: Heart Failure.