Heart Health
Higher step counts linked to lower risk of heart-related death
Research we're watching
- Reviewed by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
The more steps you take, the lower your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, with the benefits starting with as few as 2,300 steps per day, a new analysis suggests.
Published online Aug. 9, 2023, by the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, the study pooled data from 17 studies from around the world involving nearly 227,000 people in total. Their average age was 64, with nearly equal numbers of men and women.
The minimum number of daily steps needed to lower the risk of dying from heart disease was just 2,337. But every additional 500 steps per day lowered the risk even more. And researchers noted no upper limit to the benefits, even among people who walked as many as 20,000 steps per day (although few people fell into that category). In addition, the findings were consistent across varied climate zones in countries that included the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia.
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About the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
About the Reviewer
Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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