You can be as a healthy as a 20-year-old in your 70s
- Being active and eating well increases our blood vessel health by up to 10 times
- Other risks are obesity, smoking and high blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol
- Arteries become stiffer with age, which is risk factor for high blood pressure
- Making simple, lifestyle changes can maintain our wellbeing as we grow older
Alexandra Thompson Health Reporter For Mailonline
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You can be as healthy as a 20-something in your 70s, new research reveals.
Avoiding six of the seven main risk factors for heart disease keeps our arteries youthful and reduces our risk of developing the condition in our 50s and beyond by 55 percent, a study found.
Lifestyle habits such as being physically active, eating well and not smoking increase the health of our blood vessels by up to 10 times, the research adds.
As we age, our arteries typically become stiffer, which increases our risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
Researchers believe making simple, healthy lifestyle choices can maintain our youthful health as we age.
You can be as healthy as a 20-year-old in your 70s if you maintain a healthy lifestyle (stock)
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Researchers from Boston University assessed 3,196 adults aged 50 and over for more than nine years to determine how their risk of vascular ageing – reduced blood vessel elasticity – was influenced by the seven main risk factors for heart disease.
These risk factors are made up of high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, high blood sugar, inactivity, poor diet, obesity and smoking.
None of the participants had heart disease at the start of the study, yet 391 people developed the condition during the trial. Some 207 cardiovascular events, such as a heart attacks, occurred.
Those with healthy arteries were 55 percent less likely to develop heart disease.
LESS THAN SIX HOURS SLEEP RAISES YOUR RISK OF HEART DISEASE AND STROKE
Having too little sleep could put people at risk of heart disease, new research warns.
The study found having less than six hours sleep a night is associated with a higher risk of death in people with ‘metabolic syndrome’ – a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
Researchers from Penn State College of Medicine said the impact was particularly strong in those with elevated blood pressure or poor glucose control.
People with a common cluster of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes are around twice as likely to die of heart disease or stroke as people without the same risk factors if they fail to get more than six hours sleep, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
For those who get more sleep, the risk of an early death is more modest, the research adds.
The results, published in the journal Hypertension, also revealed adults who avoid at least six of the seven problems are 10 times more likely to have flexible, healthy blood vessels than those that dodge just one or less.
Study author Teemu Niiranen said: ‘Especially staying lean and avoiding diabetes seemed to be very important.
‘This association is thought to be mainly caused by the excess inflammation and neurohormonal imbalances associated with obesity and diabetes.’
Yet, Dr. Christian Delles of the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow, noted blood vessel stiffness is just one of many risk factors for heart disease.
The study did not assess vessel narrowing or the presence of plaque, which also raise the risk of developing the condition, he said.
Nonetheless, aiming to maintain healthy arteries may help individuals maintain their wellbeing as they age, Dr Delles added.
He said: ‘Controlling risk factors can keep your arteries healthy and it is worth addressing the well known risk factors.
‘This includes lifestyle measure such as weight reduction, physical exercise and smoking cessation but in most cases also medication such as blood pressure-lowering drugs and lipid-lowering drugs.’
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