Walking twice a week cuts heart risk by a fifth

OLDER women who go for a walk twice a week cut their risk of developing heart failure by a fifth, researchers have found.

A study of 89,000 post-menopausal women found walking significantly protected the heart, no matter what other forms of exercise they did. The benefits applied to all women, no matter their weight.

The research, by cardiologists at Brown University in the US, tracked women over the age of 50 for ten years.

Women who walked once a week saw their risk of heart failure drop 5 per cent, but it dropped 20 per cent if they walked twice or more, and by 35 per cent if they went on a daily walk.

Heart failure, which affects 900,000 in the UK, has a worse survival rate than many cancers – with a third of patients dying within a year of developing the condition.

Study leader Dr Somwail Rasla said ‘there may be a misconception that simply walking isn’t enough’.