While many women find a need to exercise religiously, it may not be helping as much as they think. Researchers reveal that moderate exercise decreases risk of stroke in women. In fact, moderate exercise such as playing tennis or walking briskly can cut a woman’s stroke risk by 20 percent while also helping to offset the increased risk of a possible stroke caused by postmenopausal hormone therapy.
Running marathons or intense aerobics can provide rewarding effects to the body and to one’s healthy but researchers from the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2014 have stated that it is not necessary in order to decrease the risk of stroke.
Sophia Wang, Ph.D., the study’s lead author and professor in the department of population sciences within the Beckman Research Institute at the City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., stated, “I was surprised that moderate physical activity was most strongly associated with a reduced risk of stroke. More strenuous activity such as running didn’t further reduce women’s stroke risk. Moderate activity, such as brisk walking appeared to be ideal in this scenario.”
As women become older, many start to take menopausal hormones which can increase the risk of a stroke. Women taking these hormones have a 30 percent higher risk for a stroke. Moderate exercise has been extremely helpful in decreasing this risk as well. Just one 30-minute brisk walk a day can cut down the risk of a stroke.
Researchers examined 133,479 women in a California Teachers Study to find out how many had suffered a stroke between 1996 and 2010. The study found that women who had reported doing moderate exercise for up to three years before enrolling in the study were 20 percent less likely to suffer from a stroke than those who did not exercise moderately, including those who exercised religiously.
“The benefits of reducing risk of stroke were further observed among the group of women who had a sustained moderate level of physical activity over time,” Wang said.
“The effects of physical activity and hormone therapy appear immediate and the benefits of physical activity are consistent in premenopausal and postmenopausal women Therefore, Wang recommends that women incorporate some type of physical activity into their daily routine. You don’t have to do an extreme boot camp. The types of activities we’re talking about are accessible to most of the population.” Wang said.
The study also found that women who have diabetes also have an increased risk for having a stroke, but moderate exercise can be the answer for making sure that not only the risk is lowered but blood sugar levels stay better managed as well.
Wang concluded, “Physical activity, obesity and diabetes are all highly correlated with one another,” “Stroke prevention among diabetics is thus a particularly important scientific question to address. Although 87 percent of the women were white, Wang said she believes the study’s results may also apply to women in other racial/ethnic groups because the amount of stroke risk reduction was so robust. Further studies are needed to determine how much moderate exercise helps those with diabetes avoid strokes.
