You can walk away from an early death

Exercising and being physically active for just 20 minutes every day can help you live longer, even if you have chronic problems like type 2 diabetes.

People with diabetes can end up in a vicious spiral because they tend to be less active which, in turn, increases their risk of an early death.

But the risk can be countered by being physically active for just 150 minutes a week—that’s around 20 minutes a day, say researchers from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

They analysed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys database for people with diabetes, and their physical activity and mortality rates. Inactive was defined as exercising for less than 10 minutes a week, the insufficiently active did between 10 and 149 minutes, and the active exercised for 150 or more minutes every week.

Deaths were highest in the inactive group; overall, there were 1,278 deaths in the six years of the study, and 354 deaths were caused by heart disease.

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