A prospective study on a group of Swedish men suggests that as many as 80 percent of heart attacks could be prevented by adhering to a healthy diet and lifestyle.
For their study, researchers developed five risk-lowering factors that contribute to overall health. The five factors are:
• Refraining from smoking
• Being physically active
• Having no abdominal adiposity
• Low to moderate alcohol consumption
• A healthy diet
According to researchers following just two of the factors significantly lowered a person’s risk of cardiac problems, but following all five factors have an even bigger impact.
“This combination of healthy behaviors, present in 1% of the men, could prevent 79% (95% CI: 34-93) of the [myocardial infarction] events on the basis of the study population,” the researchers said.
Behind the Numbers
The authors were able to pinpoint a relative risk decrease for each of the five factors listed above. The reduction in heart attack risk for the five factors is:
• 18% for a healthy diet
• 11% for moderate alcohol consumption
• 36% for not smoking
• 3% for being physically active
• 12% for having a low stomach circumference
If a person follows all five factors, that’s equivalent to an 80 percent reduction in the likelihood of a cardiovascular event.
“It is time to prioritize these most basic and fundamental behaviors,” said Dariush Mozaffarian in an accompanying editorial. “Patients should enter their doctor’s office and not simply ask ‘How are my blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose levels?’ but also ask ‘How are my dietary habits, physical activity level, smoking, and waist measurement?'”
Dr. Silverman comments
This piece reminds me of a blog post from last year titled “Four Lifestyle Choices to Avoid Death.” I went back and looked at the post, and sure enough, the four pillars of health closely resemble the five factors in this study.
For example, the four pillars of health are:
• A Mediterranean-style diet (A healthy diet)
• Avoid smoking (Refraining from smoking)
• A healthy BMI (Having no abdominal adiposity)
• 150 minutes of exercise per week (Being physically active)
In fact, if you classify low to moderate alcohol consumption as falling under a healthy diet, then the four pillars of health are the same as the five factors to lessen your heart attack risk. Clearly we as a population should strive to incorporate these factors into our everyday lifestyle.
Related source: MedPage Today
