LIFE AFTER MEDICINE
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( continued from page 9 ) Dr . Goetz Kloecker , Dr . Randy Puno , Dr . Michael Edwards , Dr . Mary , Barry , Dr . Henry Sadlo , Dr . Gail Harrington , Dr . Michael McCafferty , dogs Katie and Murphy and several faculty types come back to visit and walk with us . Childhood others ( 2017 ). friends , neighbors and church friends come too . Our dogs enjoy it , and they will get into the creek and then shake water all over us , because that is just what dogs like best .
Over the years , other people have joined us , and sometimes we will have five people at a walk , and then at other times we may have up to 25 . Anywhere between a third to a half are physicians usually , but we welcome everyone .
Sometimes we walk in the woods , or we ’ ll walk the East End Bridge , in Norton Commons , the Parklands , the Cherokee Park Loop , the Anchorage Trail , etc . We choose depending on terrain , weather and access to a watering hole afterwards – we might adjourn for drinks or coffee depending on the time of day .
What is all this walking doing for us , besides smiles ? Typically on the weekends , we walk long and far enough to meet the bare minimum of 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise needed to maintain health and cardiovascular fitness .
Over the past eight years , it has become not only a great aerobic experience for people with all different aerobic capabilities , but getting to know and enjoy each other ’ s company has become quite enjoyable . We have several after-walk socials throughout the course of the year .
Lots of people count their steps with Fitbit-type devices or
10 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE their phones . The threshold of 10,000 steps per day seems to have started with a Japanese ad campaign . 1 Amanda Paluch , PhD , et al . in the Lancet March 2021 found in a meta-analysis of 15 studies that higher step counts were associated with lower allcause mortality in nearly 48,000 adults followed prospectively for seven years . The mostly female participants under 60 who walked 8,000-10,000 steps / day , and those over 60 who walked at least 6,000-8,000 steps / day , were 40-53 % less likely to die during the follow-up period . Speed was not consistently linked to mortality . One can argue that the habit of daily walks is a marker for luck and health , but not causative of such . Still , as a step guideline , it might be encouraging for patients who are reluctant to consider moving around at all .
Our regulars will get the minimum of 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobics that the American Heart Association recommends , but many of us exercise other ways as well . I suspect these longer weekend walks , along with several trips to the weight-lifting gym during the week , help me get over 200 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobics .
So I encourage anyone who wants to start a similar group to do so , and as I speak , Dr . Bridget Hittepole , an internist at UofL , is starting up a new “ Walk with a Doc ” group . Such walks began in