- For older people, every additional 500 steps walked during a day reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by 14%, according to a new study.
- The health benefits from walking begin at about 3,000 daily steps, the researchers found.
- Five hundred steps is roughly equal to a quarter of a mile.
Plenty of studies associate physical activity, including brisk walking, with good health. With much of them focused on young-to-middle aged adults, there have been fewer investigations into the benefits of walking for older people.
New research, however, explores the ways in which walking can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Researchers recently found that for people aged 70 and older, each additional 500 steps of daily brisk walking lowered the risk of CVD by 14%.
In addition, individuals who walked roughly 4,500 steps each day lowered their risk of CVD by 77%.
The research was presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2023.
The research involved 452 participants from the ongoing
Researchers tracked participants’ daily step counts using an accelerometer worn at the hip, and their cardiovascular health was tracked for a period of 3.5 years.
During that period, almost 12% of participants who walked fewer than 2,000 steps a day experienced a cardiovascular event. Just 3.5% of those who walked around 4,500 daily steps had one.
Cardiac events include
Similarly, in another recently published study, researchers found that 11 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a day (or about 75 minutes a week)—such as brisk walking, hiking, or dancing—may be able to lower the risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
While higher-intensity…
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