Cut Cholesterol and Cigarettes Can Lead to Longer Life
Cut Cholesterol and Cigarettes Can Lead to Longer Life
Nov. 30, 1999 (Washington) -- Individuals without risk factors for heart disease and strokes live longer and healthier, according to long-term findings from several large studies that are analyzed in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Jeremiah Stamler, MD, and colleagues assessed death rates of five large groups of young-adult and middle-aged individuals. The men were first evaluated in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Those individuals defined as "low-risk" for heart disease or stroke -- only about 5-10% of each group -- had low cholesterol levels and blood pressure, did not smoke, and had no history of prior treatment for diabetes or of hospitalizations due to heart attack.
People at "low risk" reaped significant rewards for their perfection, including a sizably longer life expectancy than the others, from roughly six years more for women aged 40-59 to almost 10 years more for men aged 18-39.
The low-risk individuals also had much lower rates of heart disease. For example, the heart disease rate fell about 90% for low-risk young adult men, and almost 80% for the low-risk older populations studied.
Individuals without risk factors also enjoyed fainter odds for fatal stroke and all cancers. Death rates for all causes were over 50% lower for low-risk men and 40% lower for low-risk women.
The message in all this is clear but not easy: Americans should stop smoking, eat better, and exercise more.
Stamler, an emeritus professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, tells WebMD, "You can't solve these kind of problems without social policy and societal commitment of resources." He and his co-authors called for a national effort to encourage "favorable behaviors, beginning in early childhood, in regard to eating, drinking, exercising, and smoking."
Claude Lenfant, MD, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, took a similar tack. "Risk factors can be controlled ... we know what to do," he said. "It really is a national responsibility for all of us."
In an editorial in the same issue of JAMA, Lenfant wrote that impressive research advances in the area of heart disease and stroke are not making enough difference in real life. "Translation of these research results into lifestyle changes, public health interventions, and clinical practice remains a major challenge," he wrote.
Live Longer! Cut Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, Cigarettes
Nov. 30, 1999 (Washington) -- Individuals without risk factors for heart disease and strokes live longer and healthier, according to long-term findings from several large studies that are analyzed in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Jeremiah Stamler, MD, and colleagues assessed death rates of five large groups of young-adult and middle-aged individuals. The men were first evaluated in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Those individuals defined as "low-risk" for heart disease or stroke -- only about 5-10% of each group -- had low cholesterol levels and blood pressure, did not smoke, and had no history of prior treatment for diabetes or of hospitalizations due to heart attack.
People at "low risk" reaped significant rewards for their perfection, including a sizably longer life expectancy than the others, from roughly six years more for women aged 40-59 to almost 10 years more for men aged 18-39.
The low-risk individuals also had much lower rates of heart disease. For example, the heart disease rate fell about 90% for low-risk young adult men, and almost 80% for the low-risk older populations studied.
Individuals without risk factors also enjoyed fainter odds for fatal stroke and all cancers. Death rates for all causes were over 50% lower for low-risk men and 40% lower for low-risk women.
The message in all this is clear but not easy: Americans should stop smoking, eat better, and exercise more.
Stamler, an emeritus professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, tells WebMD, "You can't solve these kind of problems without social policy and societal commitment of resources." He and his co-authors called for a national effort to encourage "favorable behaviors, beginning in early childhood, in regard to eating, drinking, exercising, and smoking."
Claude Lenfant, MD, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, took a similar tack. "Risk factors can be controlled ... we know what to do," he said. "It really is a national responsibility for all of us."
In an editorial in the same issue of JAMA, Lenfant wrote that impressive research advances in the area of heart disease and stroke are not making enough difference in real life. "Translation of these research results into lifestyle changes, public health interventions, and clinical practice remains a major challenge," he wrote.
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