Health, Wellbeing & Nutrition by bodykind

This weekend I managed to get out for quite a few blissfully lengthy walks in my new home area of South Cambridgeshire.  Walking is a form of exercise that I really enjoy and studies keep cropping up which seem to suggest it has various health benefits too.  Recently (1) a study has found that walking may be important to protect against stroke in women.

The investigators involved in this particular study (1) mention that physical activity has been related, in many previous studies and papers, to a reduced risk of developing stroke.  In general, more active people seem to have around a 25-30% lower risk of stroke but the details regarding the type of activity and the amount needed are often unclear. 

In this research paper (1) data from over 35,000 women, who were aged 45 years or over, was evaluated.  The women were all healthy at the beginning of the study and the follow up lasted for around 12 years.  The amount and type of physical activity was noted at the start of the study and then again at 36, 72, 92, 125 and 149 months after.  By the end of the study period over 550 women had suffered a stroke: 473 cases were ischemic strokes, the most common type caused by a blockage or blood clot supplying blood to the brain, 102 were haemorrhagic, or ‘bleeding’, strokes and 4 strokes were of an undetermined type.  The investigators then looked at the data in order to see if there was a relationship between the risk of stroke and physical activity.

The results (1) showed that women who walked for two or more hours per week had a lower risk of stroke than those who walked for less than two hours per week.  Overall, the results suggested that the most active women were around 17% less likely to suffer a stoke over the follow-up period.  Women who walked two or more hours a week at any pace reduced their risk of any type of stroke by 30% when compared to women who did not walk.  Those women who walked at a rigorous pace of 3 miles per hour or faster had a 37% reduced risk of suffering from any type of stroke when compared to women who walked at a slower pace.  Walking seemed to be primarily associated with a lower risk of ischemic stroke.  The authors of the study conclude “This study shows a tendency for leisure-time physical activity to be associated with lower stroke risk in women. In particular, walking was generally associated with lower risks of total, ischemic, and hemorrhagic stroke”.

This current research was an observational study and does not prove that exercise or walking prevents against stroke, however, the data certainly does add to the current evidence that even moderate-intensity exercise such as walking briskly seems to be beneficial to reducing the risk of strokes.  The study primarily included well-educated, middle aged women but the authors note that there is no particular reason to believe that the results can’t be generalised across the wider population.  Personally I think that the study is important because walking is a very accessible form of exercise for many people and anything that can prevent against strokes, and other diseases, is certainly worthwhile.  The consequences of stroke, such as reduced mobility, speech difficulties and memory loss, are devastating so anything that helps to reduce the risk is of clinical importance. 

(1) Sattelmair JR et al.  2010.  Physical Activity and Risk of Stroke in Women. Stroke. 2010 Apr 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Written by Ani Kowal

Related posts:

1. Staying physically active may improve health and survival in individuals with coronary heart disease
2. Exercise found to protect and even improve the aging brain
3. Leading an active lifestyle may help to prevent cancer