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Could a stopwatch predict heart health?

What are your odds of falling victim to heart problems as you age? There’s now a simple way to find out: Time yourself running a mile. After studying more than 66,000 people between the ages of 20 and 90 over a period of 36 years, researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School have concluded that fitness in middle age is as strong a predictor of heart health as commonly known risk factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. And the best measure of fitness is “the speed at which you can run,” lead researcher Jarett D. Berry tells The New York Times. “Heart disease risk increases markedly for every minute longer it takes you” to complete a mile. Men in their 50s who can run a mile in eight minutes, and similarly aged women who can do so in nine, have a lifetime heart disease risk of only 10 percent, the study concluded. Men who take more than 10 minutes and women who need more than 12 are three times more likely to suffer problems like heart attack and stroke. Berry says the findings show that many people who think they’re active probably aren’t pushing themselves hard enough. “Getting off the couch is the first step,” he says, “but vigorous activity has a much more dramatic effect” on future heart health.

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