One-Half Premature Deaths From Chronic Diseases Attributable To Smoking, Overweight, Poor Diet

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Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Smoking / Quit Smoking;  Cardiovascular / Cardiology;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 20 Sep 2008 - 0:00 PST

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Never smoking, keeping a healthy weight, eating a proper diet low in red meat and trans-fats, can decrease the risk of chronic diseases in women by more than half, according to an article released on September 17, 2008 in BMJ.

While diet, physical activity, overweight status, alcohol consumption, and smoking status can influence the risk of diseases such as cancer and diabetes. However, the specific impact of these lifestyle factors has not been investigated in younger populations and women.

To explore this question, Dr. Rob van Dam and colleagues from the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital followed nearly 80,000 women who were between the ages of 34 and 59 in 1980 as part of the Nurses' Health Study in the U.S.. Over a period of 24 years of follow-up, over 1.5 million person-years were acquired for analysis. In this time, detailed follow-up surveys were completed every two years about each participant's diet, physical activity frequency, alcohol intake, weight, smoking levels, and disease history. The National Death Index and any next of kin confirmed participants' deaths.

In the follow-up period, 8,882 participants were documented as dying. These included 1,790 due to heart disease, and 4,527 from cancer. It was estimated that 28% of the deaths were attributable to smoking. This was the greatest single cause of premature deaths. Approximately 55% of them could have been prevented if the women had never smoked, performed regular physical activity, maintained a healthy diet, and kept a healthy weight.

Notably, alcohol intake did not modify this effect significantly, even though heavy alcohol consumption was associated with an increased risk of death from cancer. However women with light-to-moderate alcohol consumption, defined as up to one drink per day, had a lower likelihood of death from cardiovascular diseases than those who abstained.

According to the authors, this indicates that more action must be taken to eradicate smoking, as well as to encourage women exercise and eat well. They further conclude that "even modest differences in lifestyle can have a substantial impact on reducing mortality rates".

Combined impact of lifestyle factors on mortality: prospective cohort study in US women
Rob Mvan Dam, Tricia Li, Donna Spiegelman, Oscar H Franco, Frank B Hu
BMJ 2008;337:a1440
doi:10.1136/bmj.a1440
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Written by Anna Sophia McKenney
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