If You Do Not Want To Have Stroke, Start Walking

Stroke is a disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. It is the third largest cause of death in the United States. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel to the brain is either blocked or bursts (hemorrhage).

A person who has a stroke might not able to move one or more limbs on one side of the body, to understand or formulate speech, or to see one side of the visual field. Being a medical emergency, stroke can cause permanent neurological damage, complications and even death.

Obviously, one should strive to keep stroke away!

A study conducted by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston revealed that women can lower their stroke risk by walking. They reported on April 6, 2010 in the American Heart Association (AHF) journal “Stroke” that women who walked briskly had a 37 percent lower risk of stroke than those who did not walk, and women who walked at least 2 hours a week at any pace had a 30 percent lower risk.

Previous studies have already shown that physical activity reduces the likelihood of getting stroke, the new study looked at what kind of exercise might be most beneficial for women.

About 39,000 female health workers aged 45 or older enrolled in the Women’s Health Study were involved in the study. The women were periodically asked about their physical activity. During the 12 years of follow-up, 579 of them had stroke. Age, aspirin use, smoking and other factors that could affect stroke risk were taken into account.

While the study also examined vigorous activities such as running, swimming and biking in addition to walking, no link between these vigorous activities and a reduced stroke risk was found. According to the researchers, it is possible that there were insufficient number of women in that group to show a difference, and it is also likely that moderate activity is better at lowering blood pressure, which is a strong risk factor for stroke.

Besides high blood pressure, risk factors for stroke include heart disease, Type-2 diabetes, and obesity.