Walk Away From Your Risk of Stroke

Posted February 27, 2008 at 02:00 PM by Alexandra M. Haller

Section: Her Fitness, Athletics, Training Programs, Her Health, Her News

Once again, another study confirms the benefits of walking. A relatively large research project that evaluated men and women for a period of 30 years is proving that a reasonable level of cardiovascular fitness can greatly decrease your stroke risk.

“Researchers analyzed data on more than 60,000 people—46,405 men and 15,282 women—who participated in a long-term study at the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas between 1970 and 2001. The participants, aged 18 to 100 and free of known cardiovascular disease when they entered the study, were followed for an average of 18 years. During that time, 863 people—692 men and 171 women—had strokes.”

It’s no surprise that some of the participants had a stroke. After all, close to 800,00 adults in the U.S. suffer strokes each year. It’s the leading cause of long-term disability and the nation’s third largest killer. The point of this study was to see exactly how much a role exercise plays in preventing stroke.

Men in the highest 25 percent of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) had a 40 percent lower relative risk of stroke compared with men in the lowest quartile. That difference stayed constant even after adjusting for other factors such as smoking, alcohol intake, family history of cardiovascular disease, body-mass index (an estimation of body fatness), high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol levels. Among women, those with a higher cardiorespiratory fitness level had a 43 percent lower relative risk than those in the lowest fitness level.

Stephen Hooker, director of the Prevention Research Center at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health and author of the study, believes the findings are proof that exercise can have a profound effect on your chances of having a fatal or nonfatal stroke. He said this remains true regardless of a person’s other stroke risk factors, such as family history and high blood pressure.

This development is one more reason to go out for that walk on your work break. It’s an excuse to take Fido on two walks a day instead of one. The point is: get moving.

For more details on the study, click here.