Older adults could lower the risks to their heart and brain 500 steps at a time

It's never too late to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease. 一项新的研究表明，它不会每天走1万步. It may be done with just 500 steps – about a quarter of a mile – at a time.

的 研究, presented Thursday at the 美国心脏协会's Epidemiology, 预防, 生活方式和心脏代谢健康会议, found that for every 500 steps walked each day by adults ages 70 and older, 心脏病的风险, 中风和心力衰竭下降了14%. 的 findings are considered preliminary until full results are published in a peer-reviewed journal.

“步数是衡量身体活动的一种简单方法, and more daily steps were associated with a lower risk of having a cardiovascular disease-related event in older adults,首席研究员艾琳. 杜利在线上电子游戏飞禽走兽发布会上说. Dooley is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health.

Cardiovascular disease is responsible for more deaths in the U.S. each year than all forms of cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease combined. Staying physically active can help improve cardiovascular health, and daily step goals are an easily measurable way to do so. 然而, most studies of daily step counts involve younger adults who are able to set higher goals that might not be reasonable for older adults.

在新的研究中, 研究ers analyzed data from 2016 to 2017 for 452 older adults in the ongoing Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. 的 adults wore an accelerometer – a device similar to a pedometer – at the hip to measure steps for three or more days, 每天至少10个小时. Participants had an average age of 78 and were followed for 3.5年.

分析发现，成年人服用了大约4,500 steps per day were 77% less likely to experience a cardiovascular event – defined as coronary heart disease, 中风或心力衰竭比服用少于2毫克的人多,每天000步. For every additional 500 daily steps, cardiovascular disease risk dropped by 14%.

然而, the study did not determine whether taking the additional steps prevents or delays cardiovascular disease, or if taking less steps was an indicator of underlying disease.

"It's important to maintain physical activity as we age," Dooley said. 然而，每天的步数目标也应该是可以实现的. We were surprised to find that every additional quarter of a mile, 或者500步, 散步对心脏健康有很大的好处. While we do not want to diminish the importance of higher intensity physical activity, encouraging small increases in the number of daily steps also has significant cardiovascular benefits."

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