News - National
Walking lowers stroke risk for women
Posted: Apr 6, 2010 3:42 PM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
Updated: Apr 6, 2010 3:42 PM
You don't have to be a super athlete for exercise to improve your health.
New research released this week shows that walking significantly lowers the risk of stroke for women.
The 12-year study followed nearly 40,000 women. Here's what researchers found:
• Women who usually walked at a brisk pace had a 37 percent lower risk of any type of stroke and those who walked two or more hours a week had a 30 percent lower risk of any type of stroke.
• Women who typically walked at a brisk pace had a 68 percent lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke and those who walked two or more hours a week had a 57 percent lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
• Women who usually walked at a brisk pace had a 25 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke and those who usually walked more than two hours a week had a 21 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke - both "borderline significant," according to researchers.
The study is published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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