PAD is short for peripheral arterial disease, a condition that all older persons should know about. US physicians wanted to know whether the physical activity capabilities of PAD sufferers could 'predict' their mortality. Their study is published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

Three hundred physically-sedentary patients with stable symptoms of intermittent claudication were compared with 135 active patients with the same condition. (Intermittent claudication is the development of pain in the calf on walking - a cardinal sign of peripheral artery disease.) The groups were followed for 5+ years. At the end of this time, 86 patients (28.8%) in the sedentary group and 22 (16.3%) in the active group had died. The apparent protective effect of physical activity persisted even after adjusting for other predictors of mortality - age, ankle-brachial blood pressure difference, and body mass index ( BMI ).

The actual physical activity for these patients was interesting. Less than one hour of walking each week at a speed faster than a normal pace was sufficient to make the difference, apparently. So it's clear - don't give up walking as long as you can, even if it hurts . . . The alternative is not good.