Taking 2,000 steps every day for an entire year can lower the risk of heart attacks and stroke by eight percent, a recent study confirms.
Two thousand steps is equivalent to walking 20 minutes a day at a moderate pace and its health benefits can be gained by anyone who engages in it on top of their normal levels of activity. However, taking 4,000 steps or an estimated 40 minutes of moderate pace walking matches the benefits of taking a statin, lead study author, Dr. Thomas Yates, of the Diabetes Research Unit in Leicester University said. "Doing 4,000 extra steps a day reduces you cardiovascular risk by about 16-20 percent which is the equivalent of taking a statin. However, a statin has side effects and only reduces cholesterol, whereas walking has a much bigger range of health benefits."
The study looked at 9,306 adults from 40 different countries that had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), which may later on lead to diabetes or other heart disease risk factors. By using a pedometer, researchers recorded usual working activity in terms of average number of steps taken per day over a week. The researchers also analyzed the relationship between the number of steps taken per day and the risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease after taking into account various factors like smoking, diet, clinical history, medication use and body mass index.
Researchers found that people with greater levels of activity at the start of the study had lower levels of risk. They also found that doing more walking during the year-long study cut the risks further. "This is the first study to specifically quantify the extent to which change in walking behavior can modify the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular-related deaths," said Dr. Yates.
