Older women could be at a greater risk for heart disease if they walked faster than dawdling.
In the UK, there are approximately 60,000. Heart disease can cause severe fatigue and even breathlessness.
A study now shows that women postmenopausal who are able to walk quickly have a lower risk of developing the condition.
More than 25,000 women between 50 and 79 were examined by researchers, with an average follow-up of 17 years.
Walking for brisk reasons has been shown to reduce the chance of suffering from heart disease.
1,455 people suffered from heart failure during this period, which means that the heart can’t pump blood properly.
These women answered questionnaires asking them whether they walk casually less than 2 miles an hour or if they are more active, walking at a speed between 2 and 3 miles per minute, or fast, walking at over 3 miles per. 34% less likely were those who walked faster than casually to get heart disease.
Dr Charles Eaton, senior author of the study from Brown University in the US, said it ‘confirms other studies demonstrating the importance of walking speed on mortality and other cardiovascular outcomes’.
It was also shown that women post-menopausal who walked an average rate were 27 percent less likely than those who did not walk.
He added: ‘Given that limited time for exercise is frequently given as a barrier to regular physical activity, walking faster but for less time might provide similar health benefits to the recommended 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity.’
This study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Even when they took into consideration other risk factors, such as their obesity and their alcohol intake, this was still the case.
Slow walking can indicate frailty or loss of muscle. These are two factors that lead to lower health later in life.