For people who spend long hours at a desk, new research offers encouraging news. A study from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre (Australia) suggests that increasing your daily step count may help reduce the health risks linked to prolonged sitting. The findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine , are based on data from more than 72,000 individuals. Researchers found that each increase in daily steps, up to about 10,000 steps per day, was associated with a lower risk of death (39 percent) and cardiovascular disease (21 percent). These benefits were seen regardless of how much time participants spent sitting. Why Daily Steps Matter for Health Earlier research has already linked higher step counts with lower risks of death and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Other studies have shown that spending long periods sitting can raise those same risks.…