protective effects of seven factors - Life Extension
Study reaffirms protective effects of seven factors against the risk of
dying over 14 year period
March 19, 2012. An article published online on March 16, 2012 in the Journal
of the American Medical Association shows a clear decline in the risk of
dying from cardiovascular disease or from all causes over a 14 year average
period in association with the presence of a greater number of mainly
controllable health factors.
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Atlanta
analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
(NHANES) of 1988-1994, 1999-2004 and 2005-2010 for their research, which
included a total of 44,959 participants. Survey responses and physical
examinations provided information on the following cardiovascular health
metrics: smoking status, physical activity level, body mass index, healthy
diet intake, total serum cholesterol, blood pressure and fasting blood
glucose. Mortality data obtained through 2006 ascertained 2,673 deaths,
including 1,085 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 576 ischemic heart
disease deaths over a median follow-up period of 14.5 years.
Subjects were scored on optimal status for each of the seven health metrics,
i.e., not smoking, being physically active and having healthy body mass
index, diet, serum cholesterol, blood pressure and hemoglobin A1C
(indicating desirable glucose levels). Less than 2 percent of all
participants met all seven goals. Having two or more optimal factors was
associated with a 27 percent lower adjusted risk of dying of cardiovascular
disease compared to one or no factors, and this risk continued to decline in
association with an increasing number of factors to reach a 76 percent
reduction with the presence of six or more factors. Additionally, having six
or more factors was associated with a 51 percent lower risk of dying of any
cause.
"Our findings indicate that the presence of a greater number of
cardiovascular health metrics was associated with a graded and significantly
lower risk of total and cardiovascular disease mortality," the authors
conclude.
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