Two studies support benefits of healthy lifestyle for heart health

A lifestyle with healthy diet, exercise and other good health measures has genuine heart benefits, according to two new studies released this week and summarized in a Boston Globe article. The first study followed about 20,000 men with the average age of 52 for about 22 years. They report that men who exercised regularly , drank only moderate amounts of alcohol, did not smoke, and ate a diet that included breakfast cereal, fruits and vegetables and had a 1 in 10 risk of developing heart failure over their lifetimes. Men who adopted none of those practices had a 1 in 5 lifetime risk of heart failure. In the second study which examined women with hypertension, in a study about women and hypertension. researchers followed more than 83,000 healthy women for 14 years in the Nurses' Health Study. They were measured on how close they came to a normal weight, daily exercise, modest drinking, and a diet high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains but low in salt. They also took painkillers no more than once a week and took a folic acid supplement. Women who displayed all six "positive" health behaviors were 80 percent less likely to develop high blood pressure than women who followed none. Each behavior helped some, but having a normal weight made the greatest difference. It helped lower the risk of high blood pressure by 40 percent. Both research teams were from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.