Article: Outcomes: Heeding Familiar Advice May Add Years to Your Life

From: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/health/research/22outc.html?ex=1358744400&en=7e089d7c4b3fe50f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

 

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Published: January 22, 2008

The advice is as sound as it is familiar: avoid smoking, exercise, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, drink alcohol if you want (but not too much). Now researchers have figured out exactly how many years these habits will add to your life.

An 11-year study, published Jan. 8 in PLoS Medicine, began with interviews of more than 25,000 men and women ages 45 to 79 in the English county of Norfolk. The researchers gathered information on health and illness, smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity both in manual work and at leisure. The participants also had physical exams and blood tests to determine vitamin C levels as evidence of fruit and vegetable consumption.

Using this data, the researchers built a simple 0-to-4 scale that indicated how many of the four behaviors each person habitually engaged in — one point each for not smoking, exercising, drinking moderately and eating the proper amounts of fruits and vegetables.

The trend was unmistakable: with each added positive behavior, people lived longer. Those who scored 4 had about one-quarter the risk of dying of those who received a 0 — equivalent to living an additional 14 years. The trend was strongest for cardiovascular disease and cancer, but also significant for other causes.

“We’re not talking about extremes of behavior,” said Dr. Kay-Tee Khaw, the lead author and a professor of gerontology at the University of Cambridge, “but easy behaviors that most people can achieve.”