People who are on the way to diabetes could significantly reduce their risk of having a heart attack or stroke by walking for just an extra 20 minutes a day for a year, scientists said on Friday, Newsmax Health.

A large international study of people with a condition called impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) - a precursor to diabetes - found that taking an extra 2,000 steps a day over one year cut the risk of serious heart illness by 8 percent.

"People with IGT have a greatly increased risk of cardiovascular disease," said Thomas Yates of Britain's University of Leicester, who led the research.

Yates' team took data from a trial covering more than 9,300 adults in 40 countries who had IGT and heart disease or at least one cardiovascular risk factor.

All the participants were given a lifestyle change program aimed at helping them lose weight and cut fat intake while increasing physical activity to 150 minutes a week. Using a pedometer, researchers recorded usual walking activity over a week both at the start of the study and again 12 months later.

They found that for every 2,000 additional steps a day the start of the study there was a 10 percent reduction in risk of heart disease.

 On top of this, the risk of heart disease and so-called cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes was further reduced by 8 percent for every extra 2,000 steps a day between the start of the study and 12 months later.