Smoking, Hypertension and High Cholesterol

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Men With These Three Risks Die 10 Years Sooner...

British study tracks 19,000 men after 40 years

Paris : Middle-aged male smokers with high cholesterol and blood pressure die, on average, a decade sooner than peers without any of these heart disease risk factors, according to a study published yesterday (18 September 2009).

Many studies have shown that not smoking, eating healthy and exercising cut heart disease rates. But few have tracked the problem from the other end : To what extent is life expectance shortened by having these heart disease risk factors.

To find out, researchers led by Dr. Robert Clarker from Oxford University sifted the data from 19,000 male British civil servants who were examined in the late 1960s when they were 40 to 69 years old.

Participants provided detailed information about their medical history, lifestyle and smoking habits and doctors recorded their weight, blood pressure, lung function, cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

They were followed up nearly 40 years later in 2005, by which time 13,501 had died.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found that the men who faced a triple risk threat at the outset were two to three times more likely to have died of heart-related problem than men free of all three risk factors. On average, their lives were shortened by a decade.

“We've shown that men at age 50 who smoke, have high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels can expect to survive to 74 years of age, while those who have non of these risk factors can expect to live until 83.,” said Dr. Clarke, according to the BBC.

“It is precisely this kind of very prolonged follow-up study that is necessary to get these results – that modest differences in heart risk factors can accurately predicts significant differences in life expectancy. The results give people another way of looking at heart disease risk factors that can be understood more readily. If you stop smoking or take measures to deal with high blood pressure or body weight, it will translate into increased life expectancy.”

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said : “This important study puts a figure on the life-limiting effects of smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

“It provides a stark illustration of how these risk factors in the middle age can reduce life expectancy. The good news is that all of us can make changes to help us live a healty life for longer, even after 50.”

He added : “Although the study only involved men, there is no reason why the same should not apply to women. So, I urge all men and women over 40 to have a health check – that all GPs can provide – which will include finding out their blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and starting to address any areas of concern.”

The percentage of people who have fatal strokes or heart attacks has declined by about a quarter in many rich countries oveer the last decade.

But the prevalence of known risk factors has not dropped as quickly.

In the United States, for example, uncontrolled hypertension has fallen since 1999 by only 16 percent, high blood cholesterol by 19 percent, and tobacco use by just over 15 percent, says the American Heart Association. Other sources of risk have remained constant or even increased : People exercise no more than 10 years ago, while rates of obesity have climbed sharply, especially among children.

Agency France-Presse

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The Straits Times Saturday, September 19, 2009
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