Lifestyle Changes Decrease Cancer Risk and Add Years to Your Life

Smoking, drinking, a poor diet, and lack of exercise combined can take years off your life. A study, reported in the April 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine people who fall in this category are three times more likely to die from heart disease and nearly four times more likely to die from cancer. This lifestyle can cut up to 12 years off of your life compared to those who don’t engage in these behaviors.

In the paper titled, “Influence of Individual and Combined Health Behaviors on Total and Cause-Specific Mortality in Men and Women The United Kingdom Health and Lifestyle Survey” Elisabeth Kvaavik, PhD of the University of Oslo in Norway and her colleagues, started in 1984 studying the habit of 4886 individuals at least 18 years old from all over the United Kingdom. With 20 years of data in hand the results were calculated.

1080 participants died, 431 from heart disease, 318 from cancer and 331 from other causes. The group with all four lifestyle risk factors cut 12 years off their lives.

Dr. Kvaavik, concluded that, “Physical activity, diet, smoking, and alcohol consumption have been shown to be related to mortality. The combined effect of poor health behaviors on mortality was substantial, indicating that modest, but sustained, improvements to diet and lifestyle could have significant public health benefits.”