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Healthy living makes a big difference in heart disease. Lifestyle has long been known to influence heart health, but results from a 20-year study focused on women have found that effect can be dramatic. “Women who led a healthy lifestyle in their young adult years were 92 percent less likely than those who didn’t to develop heart disease by middle age. U.S. researchers followed thousands of women starting in their 20s and 30s and found those with healthy diet and exercise habits, who didn’t smoke, were also 66 percent less likely to have any heart risk factors like diabetes or hypertension by the time they were in their 40s and 50s. The results suggest that more than 70 percent of heart attacks in younger women could potentially be prevented by changes in lifestyle.” While those who did everything right had the lowest risk, the researchers pointed out that adding even one or two changes can drop your risk in the long term. The key is starting early rather than waiting until it’s too late. “Once you develop a risk factor it’s not too late to start improving your lifestyle and trying to get things going in right direction. This is a disease process that develops over time and you may look and feel healthy now but we worry about your risk in the future.”
