Posted on 08/14/2007 7:33:51 PM PDT by blam
Three walks a week 'cuts heart risk'
By Nic Fleming, Medical Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:26am BST 15/08/2007
Walking for just 30 minutes three times a week can lower blood pressure and heart disease risk, scientists say.
Guidelines from the Chief Medical Officer suggest adults do moderately intense exercise five times a week.
However, researchers found that those who take three brisk walks a week had reduced waist and hip circumference and lower blood pressure.
The authors of the study, published yesterday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, said their findings could help those with sedentary lifestyles take up exercise gradually.
The lead author, Dr Mark Tully of Queen's University, Belfast, said: "The results may encourage people who feel they do not have time to exercise on five days each week." The researchers split 106 civil servants who did hardly any exercise into three groups.
One group did 30-minute walks five days a week, another three days a week, and the rest did none.
Both walking groups saw reductions in blood pressure and measurements - shown to reduce heart attack or stroke risks. There were no changes in the non-walking group.
In other, more shocking news, Franco is still dead.
It is also not just those with sedentary lifestyles that have heart attacks. For some a walk would be a vacation.
Funny you should post this article as I am watching a tivoed lecture by a cardiologist on UCTV, who recommends 10,000 steps per day. The dude actually wears a pedometer to monitor his own daily progress and suggests this to his patients as well. Good program.
10,000 steps a day is about 5 miles for the average person....I’ve worn a pedometer - it’s amazing how much I would walk in my own home! But, then, there are others like my SIL who probably doesn’t even walk a mile a day - and it shows.....5’ tall, about 220lbs
I like walking better than running and so do my joints. And my old dogs.
Can't do it anywhere else but outside and if you keep up a good pace, most actual or potential complainers are left in the dust (smoke). Tee Hee!
Didn't he take 3 walks a week?
*Bump* !
The sound of ex-Texan falling down?
In my old neighborhood I would often walk 3 miles round trip to pick up a to go pack of barbeque. I would stop at a liquor store on the way back to pick up a bottle of red wine to counteract the cholesterol. Figured I came out health neutral.
I try to keep up a good pace. People in front of me look blue, and people behind me look red.
Following a triple-bypass in 1983 at age 40, I took up running. I ran/jogged almost every day for 16 years. In 1999, my joints hurt so much, I quit jogging and started walking five-six miles a day. Now, at age 65, I SHOULD weigh about 150 on a 5’9” frame but I have to struggle to keep it under 200. Blood pressure, with medication, is about 125/80; cholestorol/LDL/triglycerides are all OK, also with medication. I haven’t smoked in 32 years.
I agree. Remember, you can have anything you want, just not everything you want. Moderation is the key. I have ice-cream once a week, not every day. If I go out to dinner and want dessert, I skip the bread and anything carb laden in the entree. I’ve done some form of exercise every day for the last 31 years (since I was 25) and it shows but you have to make the effort - 30 minutes a day is all it takes.
Did you have the joint pain prior to taking anti cholosterol drugs? If so, I suggest you read up on “red yeast rice”. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/red-yeast-rice/NS_patient-redyeast
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