Study: Regular walking can relieve blocked leg arteries

Regular six-minute walks on a treadmill improve the endurance and quality of life for people with the leg blood-vessel blockage called peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a new study has found.(File Photo)
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LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14 (Chinese media) -- Regular six-minute

walks on a treadmill improve the endurance and quality of life for people with

the leg blood-vessel blockage called peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a new

study has found.

Researchers at the Northwestern University's Feinberg

School of Medicine in Chicago came to the conclusion after studying 156 people

with PAD, many of whom didn't have the pain that is the classic symptom of

artery blockage.

Over the six months of the study, the participants

who did their regular six-minute treadmill walks increased their walking

distance by about 69 feet, while those who did not walk regularly saw a decrease

of 49 feet, according to the study published in theJan. 14 issue of the Journal

of the American Medical Association.

While walking is a standard recommendation for people

with PAD, the study was different in two ways, said study lead author Dr. Mary

M. McDermott, an associate professor of medicine at the school.

"All prior studies have focused on patients with

intermittent claudicating -- the symptom of PAD," McDermott said. "Some of the

patients in this study were asymptomatic. Also, we included testing of leg

strength. This is the largest trial to do so."

McDermott recommended a 40-minute walk three times a

week for at least six months. The walking can be done on a treadmill or a

sidewalk, but it is best done with a trainer standing by, she

said.