Walking for Just 20 Minutes Daily Could Save 37,000 Lives

A new study conducted by researchers at Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer Support suggests that walking for just 20 minutes daily could prevent as many as 37,000 deaths due to cancer, heart disease and stroke.

A number of studies have found that the benefits of walking not only extend to gaining a healthy lifestyle, but also reduce risk of breast cancer, heart disease and strokes. A recent study conducted by American researchers had found that walking for an hour every day can reduce the risk of breast cancer in women over 50 by 14 percent.

According to the study, physical inactivity is the cause for over 17 percent of deaths in UK and walking for 20 minutes every day can help prevent 7,000 cases of breast cancer, 5,000 cases of bowel cancer, 295,000 cases of diabetes and avoid the need for emergency treatment in 12,000 heart disease patients apart from preventing 36,815 premature deaths every year.

"People who stay active are less stressed, sleep better, have a 30 per cent lower risk of getting depressed and reduce their risk of developing dementia. Physical inactivity now rivals smoking as one of the nation's biggest health problems", the researchers wrote in their report.



Source: Medindia