A large-scale, six-year study involving 39,372 American women over age 44 confirms that exercise reduces the risk of coronary heart disease in women.

The study found that the more energy women spent exercising, the lower their risk of developing heart disease, including heart attacks, regardless of other factors.

Among the approximately 23,000 women who did not engage in any vigorous activity, women who walked as little as one hour per week had about half the risk of more sedentary women of developing heart disease.

Intensity was less of a factor than the total amount of time spent walking.

Sources: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2001; 161, 825-831; The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001; 285, 11, 1447-1454.