Put some pep in your step!

A recent study shows that elders who walk at a slower pace are three times as likely to die from heart disease as compared to those who walk more quickly. Researchers now believe that studying walking habits is a new way to test for heart and circulation problems in patients, and research has been conducted to test this idea.

The research conducted was done in France over a span of five years. It was used to test whether those who walked slower were more likely to die from heart disease than those who walked more quickly. The study included 3,208 people from ages 65 to 85, and each participant’s walking speed was recorded and then followed up on every couple of years.

After five years, the results showed that 209 people died: 99 from cancer, 59 from heart disease, and 51 from other complications. The results also revealed that the slowest walkers were four times more likely to die during the study than the faster walkers. None of the people in the study had Parkinson’s disease or dementia and the researchers even looked at high risk factors for heart disease, but those who walked the slowest still had an apparent higher risk of dying from heart disease during the course of the study.

This study was the first large study to look at the link between slow walking and heart disease. It is hoped that this study will be very helpful for doctors, and researchers are even suggesting that doctors check walking speed routinely.