Healthy Lifestyle Boosts Women's Longevity

Good living can reduce the risk of dying from heart disease and cancer, study shows

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

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TUESDAY, Sept. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Women who don't smoke, maintain a healthy weight, eat a healthful diet, and get regular physical exercise significantly reduce their risk of dying from any cause, and particularly from heart disease and cancer, Harvard University researchers report.

Although the finding seems obvious, the scientists hope that by showing the long-term results of healthy living, people will see lifestyle changes can reduce the risk of dying from diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

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"Our findings suggest that the combination of lifestyle factors has a substantially larger impact on survival than any single factor," said lead researcher Rob M. van Dam, an assistant professor of medicine at Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School.

Clearly, avoiding smoking is of major importance for health, but regular physical activity, a healthy diet and weight management can result in large additional health benefits, van Dam said. "The results of the study reinforces the need to strengthen public health efforts targeting smoking, as well as efforts that make it easier for people to maintain a healthy weight and diet and to perform regular physical activity," he said.

The report was published in the Sept. 17 online edition of the British Medical Journal.

For the study, van Dam's team collected data on 77,782 women who participated in the Brigham and Women's Hospital-based Nurses Health Study. Over 24 years starting in 1980, the women in the study responded to yearly questions about lifestyle and health. Over that time, 8,882 women died, 1,790 from heart disease and 4,527 from cancer.

For women who never smoked, ate a healthy diet, did not become overweight, and remained physically active, the researchers estimated the overall risk of death was reduced by 55 percent. In addition, these women had a 44 percent reduced risk of dying from cancer and a 72 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease, van Dam's group found.

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