Heart disease is the world’s biggest killer. But by lowering your blood pressure, cholesterol and weight, walking staves it off more effectively than any medicine.
Right now, 7.6 million people across the UK are living with a heart or circulatory disease and by the end of the day 460 will have died from it.
Left to chance, it’s something that could afflict any one of us during our lifetime. But think about this – when you go on your next walk, you’ll be doing the best possible thing to prevent this disease from striking you. So says Scarlett McNally, consultant orthopaedic surgeon and lead author of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges’ Exercise: The Miracle Cure, which urges doctors to make patients realise the power of the medicine dispensed by their own two legs.
“Regular walking is fantastic – it’s probably the best thing anyone could do, firstly to reduce your risk of ever having a heart problem, and if you have a heart problem, to reduce the chance you’ll have complications or difficulties with it,” she says. “It can also reduce the amount of medication people need.
“Walking affects how well your heart pumps, and because it sorts out fluid shifts – thanks to the muscles in your calves pumping spare fluid back into your circulation – it’s really good for people with heart failure, to keep them as fit as they can possibly be.”
Walking also lowers blood pressure – according to the report responsible for 50% of Ischaemic heart disease. “We called our report The Miracle Cure because we haven’t got medications that can help people like this,” explains Scarlett. “There are amazing medicines out there, and I’m not saying people should stop taking them, but walking is more effective for most people than a lot of medication.
“For people with long term medical conditions such as heart problems, it’s far safer to walk than not walk. The risk of being inactive is greater than the risk of having a rare event when you’re walking.
“Regular walking is fantastic – it’s probably the best thing anyone could do.”
“It’s absolutely proven that being active is part of preventing people from getting heart disease, and it should also be part of the treatment plan.”
Senior cardiac nurse for the British Heart Foundation Chloe MacArthur agrees: “Being inactive can contribute to fatty material building up in your arteries,” she explains. “If the arteries that carry blood to the muscle of your heart get damaged and clogged, it can lead to a heart attack. If this happens in the arteries that carry blood to your brain, it can lead to a stroke. Whatever your age, your daily #walk1000miles activity will make an immediate impact on your health and protect it in the future too.”
James Rudd, senior lecturer in Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Cambridge says it more starkly still: “If a drug company came up with a medicine as effective as exercise, they would have a billion-dollar blockbuster on their hands and a Nobel prize in the post.”
“‘If a drug company came up with a medicine as effective as exercise, they would have a billion-dollar blockbuster on their hands and a Nobel prize in the post.’”
