A walk a day keeps the strokes away

According to new research, women who take a brisk walk every day are less likely than others to suffer a stroke.

In fact, the more a woman puts into a daily walk, the less likely she is to have a stroke. The research also suggests that men can benefit in the same way from taking walk every day. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed questionnaires filled in by more than 72,000 women, as part of a program called the Nurses Health Study.

Reporting in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers noted that 30 minutes of brisk walking and 45 minutes of more moderate walking each day resulted in reduced risk of stroke among the women.

Women who only took moderate walks also derived significant health benefits, lowering their blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and reducing their risk of developing Type II diabetes.