ATLANTA -- Many studies have shown that certain behaviors, such
as eating a low-fat diet, giving up cigarettes and exercising
daily, can lower the risk of heart disease.
Now, a new study of more than 84,129 nurses looks at combining
all of those factors and finds that heart disease can be reduced by
82 percent if women aggressively follow risk-reducing guidelines
over a lifetime, researchers will report Wednesday.
The discouraging news is, only 1 percent to 2 percent of the
women surveyed actually adhere to those healthy habits, said Dr.
Frank Hu, a nutrition expert at the Harvard School of Public
Health, who presented the research at the American Heart
Association meeting in Atlanta.
Participants were 34 to 59 years old and free from heart
disease, diabetes or cancer when starting the study in 1980. Over
the next 14 years, they answered questions about diet and lifestyle
every two years.
Researchers documented 1,129 cases of coronary heart disease in
that time. Although researchers attributed half of the cases to
study participants who continued to smoke, Hu said they could not
assign specific risk-reduction values to other behaviors in a way
that would allow individuals to pick and choose.
Women characterized as low-risk in the study:
-- Were not current smokers.
-- Had a body mass index under 25 (BMI is a figure calculated
from height and weight).
-- Drank moderately, about half of an alcoholic beverage a day.
-- Exercised vigorously for a half hour or more every day.
-- Ate a healthy diet.
``Diet and lifestyle can have a profound effect on heart
disease,'' Hu said. ``Doctors pay more attention to medications
than lifestyle recommendations. Clinicians should recognize the
importance of both.``
Dr. Nieca Goldberg, chief of the Women's Heart Program at Lenox
Hill Hospital in New York and an AHA spokeswoman, addressed the
frustrating paradox of prevention -- why a concept so simple is so
difficult to follow.
``Most people don't have the information on how to get
started,'' she said. ``It's very difficult for the person who's not
exercising, who's used to a high-fat diet and smoking to change
overnight.''
One way a person can get started is to increase physical
activity, Goldberg said. Regular exercise keeps blood pressure
down, raises levels of ``good'' cholesterol and sometimes leads
people to make other changes, such as not smoking and eating
better.
``It's important to understand that this may take time. Results
don't happen in a day or a week, and it could take some months. But
in the end,'' she said, ``it does pay off.''
