Extra Steps May Mean Extra Years of Life.

• Position: HEART DISEASE

Want to lower your odds of dying of heart disease? If you do not exercise regularly, taking an extra 4,000 steps per day may help, even if you walk at a leisurely pace, according to a study at Harvard Medical School, which found that the more steps people took, the lower their risk of dying over the following 10 years, regardless of their age, sex, or race. Those who walked 8,000 steps daily were about half as likely to die for any reason.

Most people typically get around 3,000 to 4,000 steps per day without doing any intentional exercise, notes Edward Phillips, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation. That includes things such as performing household chores, checking your mailbox, or going grocery shopping, "but if you reach a total of about 8,000 steps per day, there's a dramatic difference in whether you live or die over the next decade."

Four thousand steps equals about two miles, which most people can do in 40 minutes or less, since the average person's walking speed is about 100 steps per minute, but if you pick up the...