SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Aug 4: “Over 3000 to 10,000 steps per day would prevent all causes of mortality in people with pre-diabetes and diabetes,” claimed experts on basis of new research’s outcome.
In a cross-sectional study, the researchers used National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data to assess the optimal number of steps needed to prevent all-cause mortality in patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes.
Chairman of Association of Physicians of India (API) Jharkhand chapter and Director of Diabetes and Heart Research Centre (DHRC) Dhanbad Dr N K Singh admitted that new research was discussed during the recently held Continuous Medical Education (CME) programme.
The number of steps per day was assessed using an accelerometer that the participants wore for 7 days. Compared with the individuals in the 10th percentile in the number of steps (around 3000 steps/day), individuals who took 10,000 steps per day had a significantly lower all-cause mortality rate by the 9 years.
A similar trend was noted in both the pre-diabetes and diabetes groups.
The findings suggest that aiming for 10,000 steps per day may reduce mortality in this patient population.
The experts revealed that over 9 years of follow-up, 200 adults with pre-diabetes and 138 with diabetes died.
“We estimated an optimal dose of 10,000 steps per day to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality for both individuals with pre-diabetes and those with diabetes,” said the research experts.
