And we’re not talking about hours of walking around town either – just 20 to 40 minutes of brisk walking can reduce the risk of death in elderly men by as much as half according to a new study released in America this month.

Amazingly, for every two minutes of exercise between sedentary and more active older men found that the mortality rate dropped by 10% for every two minutes of exercise. The study compared the death rates in men aged between 70 and 92 with levels of fitness varying for none at all to heavy and regular exercise.

For every 100 men who died in the group with the lowest levels of fitness only 74 died in the next group up. 54 died in the moderately fit group while only 46 died in the high fitness category.

Obviously exercise becomes more of a challenge when you become older, so head of the study Fr. Peter Kokkinos warned that moderation is important and that trying to over exercise could prove to do more harm than good:

“The overall message is that although ageing and death are inevitable, the rate for both can be modulated by simply maintaining a physically active lifestyle at any age,”

“Although I cannot guarantee that regular exercise will add years to your life, I am quite certain that it will add life to your years. It is important nevertheless to emphasise moderation,”

What do you think? Do you think you’ll still be doing daily exercise when you’re in your 70s, 80s or 90s, or do you think you will have given up long before then? If these figures are anything to go by, we’re still going to be taking those walks!

Lucy Murphy from Exeter, Devon is a nine year old girl like any other. She enjoys going to Brownies and is learning to play the keyboard. Unfortunately, Lucky suffers from a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet?s Syndrome, which resulted in her having uncontrollable seizures which could last for many hours. The condition controlled her entire life and stopped her from leading a normal childhood. That is until she started a new diet.

The diet is similar in content to the Atkins Diet, a fad diet that was popular several years ago but was mired by much controversy by medical professionals due to its high fat intake. It?s called the ?ketogenic diet? and like Atkins, it?s very high in fat and low in carbohydrate content. In fact, the diet is around 80% fats. This fact produces ketones which in turn block seizures from the brain. In contrast, the most carbohydrates Lucy can consume in a day are the equivalent of a single slice of brown bread.

Lucy now drinks pints of whole cream instead of milk, and eats a high amount of butters and oils. One of her other staple foods is aubergines as they soak up large amounts of fat when cooked.

Lucy?s Mother, Denise Murphy commented on how they diet has changed her daughters life: ?”We started the diet about 12 months ago. We lived on a knife edge for years and used to have an ambulance outside of the house all of the time but she has not been to hospital for the last year. She still needs medication but we have not needed the emergency drugs.”

Dravet?s Syndrome develops during the first year of life and can lead to frequent seizures and poor development of motor skills and language.