People over the age of 70 who take 500 extra steps daily have a 14% lower chance of cardiovascular disease, a new US scientific study shows. Compared to those who take less than 2,000 steps a day in total, those who exceed 4,500 steps daily have a 77% lower risk of a cardiovascular event.

The researchers, led by assistant professor of epidemiology Erin Dooley of the University of Alabama School of Public Health, who made the announcement at the American Heart Association medical conference in Boston, studied 452 people with an average age of 78 who wore a special heart rate monitor. their steps on a daily basis for a few days.

The participants’ average step count was about 3,500 steps per day.

Over 3.5 years, 7.5% of subjects experienced coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, heart failure or another cardiovascular event. Almost 12% of people with fewer than 2,000 steps developed a cardiovascular problem, compared to only 3.5% among those who took more than 4,500 steps daily.

“It’s important to keep up physical activity as we get older, but we should also set goals for our steps during the day. We were surprised to find that for every extra 500 steps a day, there was such a strong benefit to heart health. While we don’t want to downplay the importance of more vigorous physical activity, encouraging small increases in daily steps also has significant cardiovascular benefits. If you’re over 70, start trying to take 500 more steps each day. “Steps are an easy way to measure physical activity, and the more an older person does, the lower the risk of a cardiovascular event,” said Dr. Dooley.

For better cardiovascular health, experts recommend eight basic things: healthy diet, physical activity, no smoking, adequate sleep, maintaining a healthy body weight, controlling cholesterol, sugar and blood pressure.