Walking helps to ward off early death for diabetics

Victims of adult onset diabetes who walk as little as two hours a week appear to significantly lower their risk of premature death.

Researchers at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reached this conclusion after studying 2896 adults whose average age was between 58 and 59 and who on average had been diagnosed 11 years earlier.

Compared with inactive adults in the study, those who walked at least two hours a week had a 39 per cent lower death rate from all causes and a 34 per cent lower chance of death from heart disease specifically.

In the study, the lowest overall death rate was for people who walked three to four hours a week and for those who reported that their walking led to moderate increases in heart rate and breathing rate.

"Walking was associated with lower mortality across a diverse spectrum of adults with diabetes," said the study, published in the June issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"One death per year may be preventable for every 61 people [with diabetes] who could be persuaded to walk at least two hours per week."

- REUTERS