Increasing daily steps and walking more briskly is a powerful combination for people with hypertension who want to reduce cardiovascular risks like stroke, new research concludes.
Hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, puts people at heightened risk for cardiovascular events like heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure, according to the Mayo Clinic.
But the new study found that when people increased their daily step counts from 2,300 to 3,000 and took regular walks at higher speeds, it reduced the probability of these outcomes by 17%.
Medical News Today summarized the research, which also found that every extra 1,000 steps daily resulted in a 22% reduction in risk of heart failure, a 24% reduction in risk of stroke, and a 9% reduction in risk of heart attack.
“In a nutshell, we found that, if you live with high blood pressure, the more you walk with greater intensity, the lower your risk for future serious cardiovascular events,” study supervisor Emmanuel Stamatakis, Ph.D., said in a statement.
This paper builds on a body of evidence that shows walking’s benefits. For instance, this gentle exercise can also lower cancer risk, improve mood, combat muscle loss, reduce arthritis symptoms, and regulate blood sugar, per Dartmouth Health. And one study found that simply making cities more walkable increases the activity among residents.
The benefits of walking could be maximized even more by improved access to green spaces. For instance, one study that compared nature walkers with urban walkers found that the former were able to rest their brains better during their exercise. Another paper linked long-term exposure to green spaces with reduced risk of anxiety and depression.
Cheng-Han Chen, MD, a cardiologist at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California, told Medical News Today, “These results are significant in that they demonstrate a very clear dose-response relationship between walking and improvements in cardiovascular risk, even at low levels of walking.”
Chen, who was unaffiliated with the study, added, “They indicate that even some physical activity is better than none, and that more is probably even better.”
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