Brisk walking, long considered beneficial for its
effect on the heart, has been shown as effective as vigorous physical
exercise in preventing coronary heart disease.
A study by the Department of Medicine, Harvard
Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston examined the
association between physical activity, walking, and vigorous exercise and
the incidence of coronary heart disease among 72,488 female nurses who
were 40 to 65 years old in 1986.
All those who took part were free of any
diagnosed cardiovascular disease or cancer and completed a detailed
questionnaire about the physical activities they carried out. The study
was followed up over eight years and found 645 coronary events (nonfatal
myocardial infarction or death from coronary disease).
The results of the study reveal a strong
association between day-to-day physical activity and the risk of coronary
heart disease. The analysis showed that women who walked three hours per
week at a brisk pace were 30-40% less likely to be associated with the
risk of coronary events, this was similar to those doing vigorous
exercise. Women who became active later in life also had a lower risk of
coronary events than those who remained sedentary.
Brisk walking or vigorous exercise produced the
most significant reduction in the incidence of heart problems especially
in women and the benefits are increased at any stage in life they were
begun.
