Stroke Not So Risky for Women Who Walk Briskly

A recent report from the Journal of the American Medical Association says that middle-aged women need to exercise at least 60 minutes every day to avoid gaining weight.  Whatever it is—whether it’s running a race, or walking at your own pace—420 minutes of moderate exercise per week will help women avoid unnecessary weight gain.

But a new study is pinpointing a specific exercise for women if they want to avoid having a stroke:  walk!

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston discovered this after conducting a study involving approximately 39,000 women.  The researchers kept track of several aspects of their health over a 12-year period, questioning their eating habits, exercise habits and keeping track of whether or not they succumbed to serious health ailments such as a stroke.  About 579 of them in fact did suffer a stroke in the 12 years of follow-up.

In their attempts to see if there was any similarities among those who did not suffer a stroke and those that did, the researchers found a correlation between brisk walking and stroke avoidance.  Not with running or swimming, only brisk walking.

Reporting their findings in the journal Stroke, the researchers found women who walked briskly were almost 40 percent less likely to suffer a stroke, tended to be in a healthy weight range, be diabetes-free and void of hypertension.

How do you tell the difference between a brisk walk and a leisurely walk?  Lead researcher Jacob Sattelmair told the Associated Press that you should be able to carry on a conversation, but not a verse.  In layman’s terms, you should be able to talk but not sing.

A stroke occurs when the brain is unable to receive blood from the heart.  When a stroke strikes, it’s usually due to blockage that’s formed within the blood vessels, but a burst blood vessel can cause a stroke as well.

Many people go on to live productive lives after suffering a stroke with minimal, if any, side effects, but the reality of that happening depends largely on how quickly the stroke is recognized and how quickly it’s treated.

You can recognize whether you or someone you know is suffering a stroke by looking at their face and feet.

For instance, someone who’s suffering a stroke will have trouble seeing, have trouble moving or standing, have trouble understanding (expressing a confused look), or be doubled over in pain due to a pounding headache.  Any one of these symptoms is enough to be concerned, but time is critical if they exhibit all of these symptoms.  Call 911 immediately, because as the American Heart Association says when it comes to treating the victim of a stroke “time lost is brain lost.”

Sources
msnbc.msn.com
strokeassociation.org
health.usnews.com
online.wsj.com