More Walking Protects Heart for Pre-Diabetics

Walking more can decrease the risk of heart attack, stroke and death among high-risk adults, a study finds. The study included 9,300 people with pre-diabetes. People with this condition have above-normal blood sugar. It’s not high enough to diagnose diabetes. But they have higher risks of type 2 diabetes, heart attack and stroke. Everyone in the study was in a program to help them exercise more, lose weight and improve their diets. At the start of the study, people were wore pedometers for a week to record how many steps they took daily. They did this again a year later. People who walked more when the study began were healthier during the 6-year follow-up period. For every 2,000 steps people took daily, they were 10% less likely to have a heart attack or stroke or die. These numbers were adjusted to account for other factors that affected people’s risk.