Walking just 500 extra steps a day may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults.
While it is well known that regular exercise can reduce the risk of heart disease, it is less clear just how much 鈥� or how little 鈥� physical activity is needed to make a difference.
To learn more, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and her colleagues collected data from 452 adults between the ages of 71 and 92 who were part of an sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. For the study, participants wore a device on their hip for three to seven days that measured their daily step count. Researchers then tracked incidences of coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure in participants over the next three-and-a-half years.
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After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, race and body mass index, the team found that every additional 500 steps a day was associated with a 14 per cent lower risk of cardiovascular disease over this period. This equates to about four-tenths of a kilometre.
These findings suggest that older adults may be able to protect their heart health with small increases in physical activity. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need to get 10,000 steps [a day],鈥� says Dooley, who presented these findings on 2 March at the Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health conference in Boston.
As to whether it is possible that participants who were in better health were simply able to walk more, Dooley notes that in order to participate in the trial everyone had to complete a 4-metre walk test. It was the case, though, that those who took the fewest steps per day in the trial were more likely to have worse physical functioning as measured by pace and a balance test.
鈥淚 think that this observation shows the importance of trying to maintain activity throughout midlife into older adulthood 鈥� not only for heart health but also for physical functioning,鈥� says Dooley.
That said, at Wake Forest University in North Carolina notes that an additional 500 steps a day may not be safe for everyone. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really important to make sure that your environment is safe, that your risk of falls is low and that your physical safety is ensured before you embark on this new recommendation,鈥� she says.
Ultimately though, these findings offer seniors a realistic and measurable exercise goal. 鈥淕o exercise is a general statement that is kind of hard to wrap your head around, but 500 steps makes it attainable,鈥� says Baker.
