A new study recently published in the European journal of Preventive Cardiology and reported by Medical News Today, noted that individuals who added extra steps plus reasonable speed to their walking each day, were able to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The study was supervised by Professor Emmanuel Stamatakiks, director of Mackenzie Wearables, at the University of Sydney in Australia. Prof. Stamatakiks noted in a recent press release that the study is perhaps the first to identify a relationship between a daily step count and severe heart, stroke, or blood vessel problems.
The researchers explained that individuals who have high blood pressure lowered their risk of severe cardiovascular issues when their walks involve greater intensity. The team discovered that people who gradually increase the intensity of their activity lower their risk of future cardiovascular events.
The message is simply that any physical activity, even if it is below the much heralded ten thousand steps a day, can increase cardiovascular health.
Biobank’s Database
A segment of the Australian study involved data from over 32,000 individuals with high blood pressure enrolled in UK Biobank’s database. The participants wore accelerometers for a week measuring speed and distance. Results from the Biobank’s participants were compared against the walkers who averaged 2,300 steps a day.
End Results
The end results were that people who consistently walked at higher speeds showed a 17% lower risk reduction in severe cardiac events.
One thousand extra steps daily result in:
- 22% reduction in heart failure risk
- 24% reduction in risk of stroke
- 9% reduction in heart attack risk
Dr. Stamatakis noted in his press release that future suggestions regarding walking intensity for people with high blood pressure should be included in future standard of care. Calls are growing adding to research demonstrating that exercise at any level may be beneficial to cardiovascular health.
Dr. Cheng-Han Chen, Medical Director of the Laguna Hills Heart Program in California although not involved with this research, added that the findings are significant as they clearly demonstrate a relationship between improvements in cardiovascular risk and that some physical activity is better than none at all.
The study also found that any steps over ten thousand a day provided additional benefits in the reduction of strokes.
