Latest Health research news from the around the globe: Healthy Lifestyle Choices May Reduce Lifetime Risk of Heart Failure 

Healthy Lifestyle Choices May Reduce Lifetime Risk of Heart Failure
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admin on 23 July, 2009 02:52:00
 
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that men who followed a
number of healthy lifestyle factors may reduce their risk of heart failure to
one in ten. This research appears in the July 22, 2009 issue of the Journal of
the American Medical Association.
“Previous relationships between various lifestyle factors and predictors of
heart failure have been established,” said Luc Djoussé, MD, ScD, MPH, of the
Department of Medicine at BWH, and lead study author. “But little was known
about the joint contribution of these factors on the reduction of lifetime risk
of heart failure.”
In a study of 20,900 healthy men from the Physicians’ Health Study I,
researchers found that healthy men who had normal body weight, never smoked, got
regular exercise, drank alcohol in moderation, and consumed breakfast cereal and
fruits and vegetables lowered their lifetime risk of heart failure. A greater
number of healthy lifestyle factors was associated with an increasingly dimished
lifetime risk of heart failure, compared to men adhering to none of the six
measured factors at highest lifetime risk, and those adhering to four or more at
lowest lifetime risk.
During the follow-up more than 22 years after the study began, 1200 men had
developed heart failure, and the overall risk of heart failure for the entire
group was about one in seven for ages 40 years through age 70 years, with the
risk dropping once men reached aged 80. Lifetime risk of heart failure was also
found to be higher in men with hypertension than in those without hypertension.
“We know that hypertension is a contributing risk factor for heart failure,”
said Dr. Djoussé. “However, we found that adhering to the specific lifestyle
factors such as healthy body weight, not smoking, and regular exercise was
associated with a lower lifetime risk of heart failure in the overall population
and in men with hypertension, as well as those without hypertension.”
“By identifying a number of modifiable lifestyle factors, we can arm patients
and physicians with targeted habits to help reduce the occurence of heart
disease,” said Dr. Djoussé, noting the need for additional investigation into
the effects of these factors on other populations.  The Physicians’ Health
Study is supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.