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The Duke University Medical Center found that a brisk 30-minute walk or jog around a track three times a week was just as effective as antidepressant medication in relieving the symptoms of major depression in middle-aged and elderly people. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine last year showed that older women who walked regularly were less likely to develop memory loss and other declines in mental function than women who were less active. Those who walked 18 miles or more per week fared best. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, walking helps you maintain a positive outlook, and can make you look and feel younger. Walking increases the blood flow to the brain. A 1999 study of people over 60 found that walking 45 minutes a day at a 16-minute mile pace increased their thinking skills. The Mayo Clinic also has evidence that exercise positively affects the levels of certain mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain. Exercise may also boost feel-good endorphins, release tension in muscles, help you sleep better and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. GET A BETTER BODY Walking one mile a day burns 100 calories. You could lose ten pounds in a year without changing your eating habits. The experts agree, walk 6,000 steps a day to improve your health, and 10,000 to lose weight. A University of Tennessee in Knoxville study with pedometers revealed that women who averaged more than 10,000 steps a day had 40% less body fat and waist and hip measurements that were four to six inches narrower than those who averaged fewer than 6,000 steps. If you add just 2,000 more steps a day to your regular activities, you may never gain another pound. So says research by Dr. James O. Hill of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. A recent Harvard study shows that walking at a moderate pace (3mph) for up to 3 hours a week — or 30 minutes a day — can cut the risk of heart disease in women by as much as 40%. The October 20, 1999 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that one hour of brisk walking every day can cut a woman's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in half. The Journal of the American Medical Association found that women who walk in their 30s and 40s can greatly reduce their risk of breast cancer. If you walk regularly (3 or more times a week for a half hour or more) you are saving $330 a year in health care costs, according to a survey published in the October, 2000 issue of The Physician and Sportsmedicine.