Lifespan Increased By Four Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors

Adapting four healthy lifestyle behaviors is associated with increased lifespan for men and women, according to a study published online May 31 in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Susanna C. Larsson, Ph.D., from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden and colleagues examined differences in survival times associated with a healthy versus a less healthy lifestyle in a study involving 33,454 men and 30,639 women aged 45 to 83 years, free of cancer and cardiovascular disease at baseline.

Healthy lifestyle factors included:

  1. No smoking
  2. Physical activity (at least 2.5 hours total)
  3. Moderate Alcohol consumption (0 to 14 drinks/week),
  4. A healthy diet, (with a modified Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet score above average).

Based on linkage to the Swedish Cause of Death Register, the researchers identified 8,630 deaths among men and 6,730 deaths among women during follow-up from 1998 to 2014. The healthy lifestyles were linked to a reduction in all causes of death and increased longevity. This corresponded to a difference in life span of 4.1 and 4.9 years in men and women.

“This finding underscores the importance of adopting and maintaining healthy lifestyle behaviors for increased lifespan,” the authors wrote.

Sources:

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-06-lifespan-healthy-lifestyle-behaviors.html#nRlv

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joim.12637/abstract