- A strong heart until the age of 60 adds years of illness-free life
- Buys you five years longer before getting illnesses such as cancer or heart failure
- Expert says: ‘We need to think about cardiovascular health at all stages of life’
Claudia Tanner For Mailonline
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People who have better heart health during young adulthood and middle age end up living four-and-a-half years longer.
They also spend fewer years later in life suffering from chronic illness, according to the US study.
The findings come from research which followed up participants from health assessments carried out in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Cardiovascular disease is one of the main causes of death and disability around the world, but it can often largely be prevented with a healthy lifestyle.
‘Good cardiovascular health in middle age delays the onset of many types of disease so that people live longer and spend a much smaller proportion of their lives with chronic illness,’ said lead author Norrina Allen of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
‘Health professionals need to let young adults know that adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle makes it more likely that you’ll live longer and still be healthy enough to do the things you love to do when you’re older.’
Researchers have found having a strong heart up to the age of 60 staves off many types of potentially deadly illnesses (file)
The team analysed data from the Chicago Health Association Detection Project, a 40-year study that recruited participants 18 years and older.
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They followed up on 25,800 people who had turned 65 by 2010, about 65 percent of the original study participants.
The researchers categorised them according to whether they had one or more heart risk factors. These included high blood pressure, cholesterol or body mass index (BMI, a measure of weight relative to height), and whether they smoked or had diabetes.
According to the World Health Organization, 80 per cent of premature heart disease and stroke is preventable (file)
Six percent had none of these risk factors in early adulthood and middle age, 19 per cent had elevated readings of one risk factor, while 40 per cent had one high risk factor and 35 per cent had two or more.
They were then classed as having ‘favourable’ cardiovascular health if they had none of these problems and ‘less favourable’ if they had one or more.
It was found that people with good cardiovascular health at younger ages lived about four years longer and survived about five years longer before developing illnesses such as cancer or heart failure.
The healthier individuals spent 22 percent less of their senior years with a serious disease compared to people with two or more heart risk factors earlier in life.
This suggests having a good cardiovascular system up to the age of 60 staves off many types of potentially deadly disease.
Allen added: ‘We need to think about cardiovascular health at all stages of life. We tend to not focus on our cardiovascular health until later in life.
‘The small proportion of participants with favourable levels in their 40s is a call for all of us to maintain or adopt healthy lifestyles earlier in life.’
7 STRATEGIES TO PREVENT HEART DISEASE
1. Don’t smoke or use tobacco – this is one of the most significant risk factors for developing heart disease.
2. Exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week – when you combine physical activity with other lifestyle measures, such as maintaining a healthy weight, the payoff is even greater.
3. Eat a heart-healthy diet – a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains can help protect your heart.
4. Maintain a healthy weight – being overweight, especially if you carry excess weight around your middle, increases your risk of heart disease.
5. Get enough quality sleep – people who don’t get enough sleep have a higher risk of obesity, high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes and depression.
6. Manage stress – finding alternative ways to manage stress, such as physical activity, relaxation exercises or meditation, can help improve your health.
7. Get regular health screenings – high blood pressure and high cholesterol can damage your heart and blood vessels.
Source: Mayo Clinic
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