What your walking speed can tell your doctor

Doctors are trained fortune-tellers of sorts. But instead of divining the future through tea leaves or Tarot cards, they look to our bodies for clues. If our blood pressure is high, they may warn of heart and circulation problems that could be down the road. Ditto for high cholesterol. But doctors can also draw upon subtler signs — even, for example, our walking speed.

As odd as it may sound, studies show that healthy older adults who walk slowly are at higher risk of falls, disabilities, frequent hospital visits, and other health problems. And, according to a new study, slow walkers also have triple the chance of dying from heart disease, although the reasons aren't yet clear.

The study included 3,208 seniors ages 65 to 85 in France. Each person's walking speed was clocked over 6 meters (almost 20 feet). The researchers then checked on the participants every couple of years. All were in reasonably good health at the start of the study, and didn't have any conditions that could have substantially affected how fast they walked, such as Parkinson disease, dementia, or a disabling stroke.

After five years, 209 people had died, including 99 from cancer, 59 from heart disease, and 51 from other causes (such as infections and respiratory failure). The researchers found that the slowest walkers were three times more likely to have died of heart disease than those who walked at a faster clip. However, they didn't find a link between slow walking and other causes of death, including cancer.

An obvious explanation for these findings is that people often walk slowly because they aren't in very good shape, which can also increase their risk of heart and circulation problems. However, the link between slow walking and heart disease persisted even after researchers took into account people's level of physical activity (not to mention their age, weight, blood pressure, smoking history, and other traits that could have swayed the results).

So what else could be at work here? One possibility is that certain changes in the body can affect both our risk of heart disease as well as our movement. For example, studies have suggested that a person's motor skills can be hampered by thickening of the arteries, which can also cause heart disease.

What you need to know. Based on these findings, the researchers suggest that doctors regularly test older patients' walking speed for an early indication of heart and circulation problems. However, this would be just one test among many that a doctor might use to assess a patient's risk.

And what if you're a slow walker? Keep in mind that walking speed, if it is an indicator of the risk of heart disease, is only one such marker: blood pressure, cholesterol levels, family history, and lifestyle can all determine risk. If you are worried about your heart health, talk to your doctor about steps you can take to improve your outlook, such as maintaining a healthy weight, eating a better diet, and getting regular exercise.

—Sophie Ramsey, patient editor, BMJ Group

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