Awesome treatment: Walking

Walking is one of the best "medicines" anyone can take. It can be habit-forming - for the good. Walking - and other exercise - can help prevent strokes and a myriad of other health problems.

Not long ago, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released some survey information about walking activities. More people are walking, but not yet enough, says a MedPage Today article:

Still, walking is a "wonder drug" that can prevent a variety of maladies from diabetes to cancer, CDC director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, said during a phone call with reporters.

"I would say there's no single drug that can do anything like what regular physical activity does," Frieden said.

The data come from the CDC's 2005 and 2010 National Health Interview Surveys, and Frieden said the increase in walking prevalence was seen across almost all demographic groups.

Yet only 48% of Americans are meeting 2008 guidelines that recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, per week, and a third of Americans said they don't get any physical activity at all.

(Photo from CDC)