Key points from article :
Epidemiological study looks at the effect of some common lifestyle and environmental factors.
No physical activity, smoking and life dissatisfaction increases hazard ration by 22%, 83% & 49% respectively.
But what do these percentages mean in real-life terms, i.e. expected age of death (EAD)?
Smoking on averages cuts 6-8 years off the smoker's life.
Diabetes decreased EAD by 6.5 years.
Whole milk consumers lose 3.4 years compared to those using skimmed milk.
Surprisingly, inactivity had a smaller effect, only 2.4 less years.
That's the same amount for living with unbearable stress.
Other factors that reduce EAD:
- BMI values below 22 and above 33
- non-HDL cholesterol values below 3.6 and above 6.5
- diastolic blood pressure above 85
- systolic blood pressure values below 110 and above 135
Study baselined 38,549 participants aged 25-74 years between 1987 and 2007.
Average follow-up time of 16 years and 4310 deaths.
Research by Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare published in BMJ Open.
