Women who walk two or more hours per week or who walk at a brisk pace can significantly reduce their risk of suffering a stroke, new research indicates.
The findings are based on a study of the exercising habits of 39,315 female health professionals whose average age was 54. It found that:
- Women who walked at a pace of 3 miles per hour or faster had a 37% lower risk of suffering any type of stroke.
- Women who walked two or more hours a week had a 30% reduced risk of any type of stroke.
“Physical activity, including regular walking, is an important modifiable behavior for stroke prevention,” Jacob R. Sattelmair, MSc, of the Harvard School of Public Health, says in a news release. “Physical activity is essential to promoting cardiovascular health and reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, and walking is one way of achieving physical activity.”
Previous research has indicated that people who are physically active generally have a lower risk of stroke than those who are more sedentary.
I hope my daily walking and swimming help me.
No matter what I do (diet, exercise etc) I have high cholesterol.
I really don’t want to begin taking statins.
Cil I’m sure your physical exercise helps! It sounds like your high cholesterol is hereditary because I know how you cook (or at least what I’ve read) and it’s very heart healthy. Here is a blog I follow in my RSS reader that I find very helpful. It’s written by a cardiologist in Milwaukee, WI. He talks a lot about high cholesterol/diet ect.
http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/
This is great news for women, especially because just about anyone can walk, and 3 miles an hour is an easy pace.
I wonder if this will hold true for men?
.-= Ferd´s last blog ..Making the best of it =-.
Wonder why the study was done only on women? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to study both sexes? Yep I agree about walking, you don’t need to invest money in a lot of fancy equipment, just open the door and start walking.
I to think walking is good for you, I know I like to get out walking but I do not walk any marathons or as a matter of fact I have no idea how fast or how far I walk I just enjoy it….We went to the farm for Easter and of course there is a lot of walking to do there
checking out the new calfs and just walking the grounds etc. however the weather was just great, in the winter I just walk from the car which is in itself is a ways from their parking as they get so much snow out there and I do not like to walk in the deep snow,
I have a question you might know, I understand the wheel chair parking but do not understand the special parking for expectant mothers are they not suppose to get some excersize I know in my day they did..however my youngest is now 46yrs old so I know things have change a lot over the years.
Hi Mary Anne, always good to read your comments from a Canadian’s perspective. About the expectant Mothers special parking places, we don’t have those in the US like you do in Canada. If fact several years when my husband and I were up there for a long weekend it was the first time I had ever seen such signs. Some stores in the US are beginning to add those signs but not many. And YES pregnant women should be physically active unless told otherwise by their physician.
Elaine you can also tell Ferd that walking is good for men also, perhaps he should tune in to the TV shows called the Doctors or even the one called DR. OZ and they all preach about healthy diets and walking and excersize for all……always remember to eat the rainbow and walk out to enjoy it when it is in the sky also.
Ferd is a doctor, I’m sure he’ll get a chuckle from your comment, and I mean that in a nice way. I can’t speak for him but I think he meant will brisk walking prove to be as effective in men as it is in women for reducing stroke risk.
Thanks for the cardio link, Elaine.
I wanted to share my neighbors’ success stories with you.
This couple in their early 50′s grew up here in the South, on *not* the healthiest of diets. He was very heavy, and she was chubby.
She changed her diet, began walking briskly several miles every day, and lost 30 pounds. Inspired by her transformation, the husband began walking and eating better, too. He has lost 56 pounds!
Their success was what inspired my own husband to get his bike down from the attic.
Thanks for sharing your neighbors story and congrats to them! That’s what I love about brisk walking, you don’t need any special clothes other than good shoes, you can do it anywhere and can go at your own pace. So many people that are overweight will make excuses, “I can’t walk a mile” then walk to your mailbox, walk to the corner, walk around the block but get outside and start walking! Getting off the couch and starting is half the battle and a desire to change. Kudo’s to your husband for getting the bike out.