More walking tied to lower stroke risk among men

By C. E. Huggins

Older men who spend several hours walking each day were less likely to have a stroke than their peers who rarely walked, in a recent study. And walking pace didn't seem to matter.

Researchers said few studies have looked specifically at how both walking speed and walking time or distance are linked to stroke risk.

Barbara J. Jefferis, who led the research at University College London in the UK, told Reuters Health by email, "Our study suggests that maintaining an active lifestyle, specifically by spending more time on all forms of walking, could be an important part of stroke prevention strategies in older people."

She and her coauthors analyzed data from men enrolled in a long-term British heart study.

The men entered the study in 1978 to 1980. In 1998 to 2000, when they were in their 60s and 70s, they filled out surveys about how often they were physically active.

The new analysis includes 2,995 men who were free of stroke or heart disease at the time of that survey. Researchers followed them for another 11 years.

More than half of the men walked an hour or less each day. About one in six reported walking more than two hours per day.

During the follow-up period, 195 men had a stroke. The more time men spent walking, the lower their risk of stroke.

Men who walked more than three hours a day had a two-thirds lower risk of stroke than those who walked less than three hours a week. But even walking four to seven hours a week was associated with an 11% lower risk of stroke than walking less than three hours a week.

Walking pace was also tied to stroke risk, such that average-pace or brisk walkers had a 38% lower risk of stroke than slow walkers. But distance walked explained that finding: men who walked at an average or brisk pace also walked further than their slower peers, according to the study.

The findings don't prove walking prevents strokes. But they could not be explained by factors known to increase a person's risk of stroke, like age, blood pressure and cholesterol. Other markers of stroke risk, such as proteins associated with inflammation, blood clotting or heart muscle damage, also weren't behind the link.

"What we found was that all of these factors explained only a small amount of the relationship between time spent walking and onset of stroke," Jefferis said. "This suggests that there may be other factors operating which explain why walking protects against stroke."

Her team's study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research and the British Heart Foundation.

Although it only included men, Jefferis said other research has suggested walking is good for women, too.

For instance, a team of Spanish researchers reported late last year that women who walked briskly for at least three and a half hours per week had a lower risk of stroke than inactive women (see Reuters Health story of January 3, 2013 here: http://reut.rs/UJj2IK).

"Getting into the habit of walking every day for at least an hour could protect against stroke," Jefferis said. That can include walking that is done while running errands, walking for leisure in a park or just walking around indoors.

Both the World Health Organization and CDC recommend adults get at least two and a half hours of moderate exercise each week.

The study was published online November 14 in Stroke.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/IjRqaf

Stroke 2013.

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