Kathmandu, January 10

Researchers claim that a healthy lifestyle could help women gain 10 and men 7 years of life free of cancer, heart problems and type-2 diabetes.

A study in the BMJ suggested that for a healthy lifestyle people must exercise regularly, drink in moderation only, have a healthy weight and good diet and not smoke.

The researchers from the United States tracked 111,000 people for more than 20 years  and they asked the participants at the age of 50 to meet at least four of among five criteria—never smoking, a healthy/balanced diet, 30 minutes of moderate or vigorous activity every day, a body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 24.9 as well as no more alcohol than a small glass of wine a day for women and a pint of beer for men.

As per the researchers, women who said they met four out of five lived an average of another 34 years free of cancer, cardiovascular disease (such as heart attack and stroke) and type-2 diabetes - more than 10 years longer than those who did not.

For healthy men, it meant another 31 years of disease-free life - more than seven years extra than unhealthy men could expect, as reported by BBC.

Lead author Dr Frank Hu, of Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, said the study had "a positive message for the public". "They gain not just more years of life but good years through improved lifestyle choices," as quoted saying by BBC.

The study found that the men who smoked more than 15 cigarettes a day and obese men and women (with a BMI of more than 30) had the lowest disease-free life expectancy.

The researchers also found that for both sexes - not only did a healthy lifestyle reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes, but it also improved survival if men and women who were diagnosed with any of the diseases.

Hamro Doctor