A new study has found that adopting a healthy lifestyle, even in middle age, significantly reduces mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston, USA) reviewed 15,792 men and women aged 45 to 64 years who 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.

The researchers found that people who added healthy lifestyle behaviors could substantially reduce their risk for CVD and reduce their death rate. Once these people achieved 4 healthy behaviors that include eating at least 5 fruits and vegetables daily, exercising at least 2.5 hours per week, maintaining their body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 30 kg/m, and not smoking, investigators saw a 35% reduction in CVD incidence and a 40% reduction in mortality compared to people with less healthy lifestyles. The study was published in the July 2007 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

“The potential public health benefit from adopting a healthier lifestyle in middle age is substantial. 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,” said lead author Dana E. King, M.D., M.S. “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.”

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