A new study finds walking more and walking faster cuts the risk of major heart events in people with and without high blood pressure.
Got high blood pressure? The next step you take could literally protect your heart.
A new study of more than 36,000 people with hypertension found that walking more — and walking faster — cuts the risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.
And here’s the best part: You don’t need to hit 10,000 steps a day to see benefits.
Starting from just 2,300 steps a day, every extra 1,000 steps was linked to a 17% lower risk of major heart and blood vessel problems, a 22% lower risk of heart failure, 9% lower odds of heart attack and 24% lower odds of stroke.
Going a little faster helps, too. People who walked briskly — around 80 steps a minute — had a 30% lower risk of serious cardiovascular events.
The researchers found similar results when they looked at about 37,000 people without high blood pressure.
One author says, “This study is one of the first to demonstrate a dose-response relationship between daily step count and major problems of the heart and blood vessels.”
He says these findings could help shape new physical activity guidelines for patients with high blood pressure.
And they highlight something powerful: Movement is medicine.
Source: European Journal of Preventive Cardiology
Author Affiliations: The University of Sydney, TU Dresden
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