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Aging News & Information
Four Simple Lifestyle Habits Extend Life, Lower
Heart Risk for Older People
Study included people up to 65 but probably
works for senior citizens, too
 June
28, 2007 It is probably easier than most people think to lower the
risk of heart problems and add years to their lives. A new study finds
that just four simple healthy behaviors can do the trick and it works
even if one starts late in life. Although this study only included
people from age 45 through 64, there seems to be no reason not to assume
it would also work for senior citizens.
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Aging News & Information |
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Can adopting a healthier lifestyle later in life
help -- or is it too late? This was the question researchers from the
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston wanted to answer.
In the study results published in the July 2007
issue of The American Journal of Medicine, the researchers found that
these middle-aged people (45 to 64) who added healthy lifestyle
behaviors could substantially reduce their risk for cardiovascular
disease (CVD) and reduce their death rate.
Once these people achieved 4 healthy behaviors,
investigators saw a 35% reduction in CVD incidence and a 40% reduction
in mortality compared to people with less healthy lifestyles.
The Four Necessary Healthy Behaviors
1. Eating at least 5 fruits and vegetables daily
2. Exercising at least 2.5 hours per week
3. Maintaining a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18.5 and 30 kg/m (Note:
a person 5'8" weighing 197 would have BMI of 30 - check your BMI on our
BMI chart - Click Here)
4. Not smoking
The potential public health benefit from adopting
a healthier lifestyle in middle age is substantial, writes Dana E.
King, MD, MS.
The current study demonstrated that adopting four
modest healthy habits considerably lowers the risk of cardiovascular
disease and mortality in relatively short-term 4-year follow up period.
The findings emphasize that making the necessary
changes to adhere to a healthy lifestyle is extremely worthwhile, and
that middle-age is not too late to act.
Starting in 1987 to 1989, 15,792 men and women ages
45 to 64 years participated in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities
Study (ARIC) in four communities across the United States.
This was designed to investigate the origin and
progression of various atherosclerotic diseases. Follow up visits every
three years through the end of 1998 included an interval medical
history, weight, height, diet questionnaire, updated smoking history and
current participation in sports and leisure exercise.
There were three key findings from the study
● first, the benefit of switching to a healthy
lifestyle past age 45 became evident even in the 4-year, short-term
follow up;
● second, the beneficial impact of the changes occurred despite the
relatively modest changes in health habits; and
● third, the healthy lifestyle was beneficial when compared to all
persons with three or fewer healthy habits, not just in comparison to
people with none or one habit.
People adopting only three healthy habits
experienced lower mortality but not fewer CVD events over the same
period.
The authors found that only 8.5% of middle-aged
adults practice these four behaviors and only 8.4% newly adopt such a
lifestyle past age 45.
Further, men, African-Americans, and individuals
with less than college education, lower income, or a history of
hypertension or diabetes are less likely to adopt a healthy lifestyle
past age 45, and are therefore at greater risk of mortality and
cardiovascular disease.
Editors Notes:
The study is Turning Back the Clock: Adopting a
Healthy Lifestyle in Middle Age by Dana E. King, MD, MS, Arch G.
Mainous III, PhD, and Mark E. Geesey, MS. It appears in The American
Journal of Medicine, Volume 120, Issue 7 (July 2007), published by
Elsevier.
The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC)
is conducted and supported by the NHLBI in collaboration with the ARIC
Study Investigators. This article was prepared using a limited access
dataset obtained by the NHLBI and does not necessarily reflect the
opinions or views of the ARIC Study or the NHLBI.
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