Study of 84,000 women confirms hearty rewards for healthy lifestyle

A 14-year study of heart disease among more than 84,000 women is reaffirming the health benefits of sensible diet, no smoking, exercise and moderate use of alcohol. 

When the healthy habits are combined, the risk for heart disease among women declines dramatically, researchers found. Their results are published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine. 

"I was surprised the magnitude was so large -- over 80 percent reduction in risk," said study leader Dr. Meir Stampfer of Harvard University and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston. Stampfer and other researchers at Harvard tracked the lifestyles of 84,129 women nurses during 14 years and measured their susceptibility to heart disease -- the number-one killer of adult Americans. 

The women with the lowest risk for heart disease didn't smoke, ate a healthy diet, exercised at least 30 minutes a day, maintained a good weight and consumed no alcohol or drank in moderation (two glasses of wine per day, for example), reported the researchers. 

"The vast majority of heart disease could be eliminated if everyone adopted a healthy lifestyle," Dr. Stampfer declared. Dr. Nanette Wenger, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, said the study's results are what "most of us who believe so strongly in prevention would want to see -- the fact that women who do very simple lifestyle interventions get benefits." 

A new convert to regular exercise and better eating is Joan Brendle-Mutter of Atlanta. She changed her lifestyle after learning that her blood pressure and cholesterol were high. "It has to become a priority," she said. "You have to care enough about yourself to let it become a priority." But that, researchers said, may be the biggest challenge: getting Americans to make the necessary lifestyle changes that will bring heart benefits.