Healthy Habits Extend Life

People who don't smoke and who maintain low cholesterol and blood pressure levels can live about 6 to 9 1/2 years longer than those less careful about their health, according to studies of more than 360,000 patients.

The research, to be published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, found dramatic, life-extending benefits for adults of all ages who have low heart disease risk factors, including abstaining from cigarette smoking.

"These findings are relevant for the national effort to end the coronary heart disease-cardiovascular epidemic," the study says. "For upcoming generations this means encouraging favorable behaviors beginning in early childhood in regard to eating, drinking, exercising and smoking."

A team led by Dr. Jeremiah Stamler of Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago analyzed the health outcomes from a group of women and four groups of men participating in two long-term studies. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 59. The health of two groups was monitored for 16 years, while the other three groups were followed for 22 years.

For any in the groups who died, the researchers determined the cause of death and then related this outcome to basic health measurements taken at the beginning of the studies.

The researchers found that death from all causes and from cardiovascular disease was substantially reduced among those with low heart disease risk factors, defined as those who did not smoke and who had total cholesterol readings of 200 milligrams per deciliter or below, and blood pressure readings less than or equal to 120 over 80. Less than 10 percent of the patients were in this "low risk" category.

One study, called the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, or MRFIT, screened the health of 361,662 men between the ages of 35 and 57 in the mid-1970s.

At the end of 16 years, the study found that the MRFIT men in the "low risk" category who started the study between 35 years to 39 years of age had an increased life expectancy of 6.3 years, while those between ages 40 to 57 at the start had a 5.9-year increase in life expectancy.

The risk of death from any cause was 50 percent to 55 percent lower for those in the "low risk" category, the study found.

Another study, called the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project, or CHA, evaluated the health outcomes for 10,025 men between ages 18 and 39, 7,490 men between 40 and 59, and 6,229 women between ages 40 and 59 years.

It found that the younger men in the "low risk" category had a life expectancy 9 1/2 years longer than other men in the group their same age. For men aged 40 to 59 years, life expectancy was extended by 6 years, the study found.

For women in the "low risk" category, life was extended by 5.8 years.

The risk of death from all causes in the CHA study was reduced by 57 percent to 58 percent for the nosmoking men with good cholesterol and blood pressure readings. For such "low risk" women, there was a 40 percent lower risk of death for any cause.

"Life style ... clearly influences who will fall into the low risk-factor group," said the study. It noted that since the 1960s, there has been a general health recommendation to decrease fat consumption, increase exercise, eat a diet balanced with fruits and vegetables, and to avoid smoking, excess alcohol and excess weight.