Women who smoke increase their risk of dying prematurely

A long term study by researchers in the United States has found that women can reduce their risk of a premature death by adopting a healthy lifestyle.

The study by scientists at Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital, found that a combination of healthy lifestyle factors such as never smoking, keeping weight in check, exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet low in red meat and 'trans-fats', halved a woman's risk of dying early.

The scientists say the combination of these healthy lifestyle factors help women avoid chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

The study by Dr. Rob van Dam and colleagues involved almost 80,000 women aged 34 to 59 years who were recruited in 1980 as part of the Nurses' Health Study.

Over a 24 year period the research team analysed the data from detailed follow-up questionnaires done every two years about diet, frequency of physical activity, alcohol intake, weight, how much they smoked, and disease history - deaths were confirmed by next of kin and the National Death Index.

During the follow-up period the researchers documented 8,882 deaths including 1,790 from heart disease and 4,527 from cancer - by using the data collected they were able to estimate that 28% of these deaths could have been avoided if women had never smoked and that 55% could have been avoided if women had combined never smoking, regular physical activity, a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight.

The researchers say alcohol intake did not significantly change this estimate, though heavy alcohol consumption has been linked to an increased risk of dying from cancer.

They say smoking was found to be the biggest cause of premature death but all the other factors also contributed.

They also found that women with light-to-moderate alcohol consumption - to 1 drink a day - were less likely to die from cardiovascular diseases than alcohol abstainers.

The scientists say the results of this research indicates that more needs to be done to eradicate smoking and to encourage individuals to take regular exercise and eat healthily and they conclude that "even modest differences in lifestyle can have a substantial impact on reducing mortality rates".

The study is published in the British Medical Journal.