Risk of premature death in women halved by healthy lifestyle

Over half of the deaths in women from chronic diseases could be avoided by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, a report claims.

The study published on BMJ.com today claims that the number of deaths from conditions such as cancer and heart disease would be reduced if women exercised regularly, did not smoke, kept their weight in check and ate a healthy diet low in red meat and fats.

Researchers at the Harvard school of public health and Brigham and Women’s hospital recruited nearly 80,000 women aged between 34 and 59 in 1980 and conducted health questionnaires with them for the following 24 years.

During the period, 8,882 deaths were recorded, 1,790 from heart disease and 4,527 from cancer.

The authors of today’s report estimated that 28 per cent of the deaths could have been avoided if the women had never smoked and 55 per cent could have been prevented if they had combined not smoking with regular exercise and a healthy diet.

Interestingly, alcohol intake did not substantially change the estimates and those women with light-to-moderate alcohol consumption were less likely to die from cardiovascular diseases than those who didn’t drink at all.