In order to show that a healthy lifestyle is the best means for preventing chronic diseases, especially higher rates of cholesterol and blood pressure that eventually lead to heart disease, US medical experts started a study in which the subjects had to respect five simple rules in their everyday life. The rules were: eating right, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking an not drinking in excess.

This ample study was carried on 43000 healthy men with ages between 40 and 75 and has begun in 1986. At that time none of the volunteers suffered from diabetes, heart disease or any other severe condition.

Stephanie Chiuve, lead author of the study published in the Journal of The American Heart Association and researcher in the nutrition field at Harvard School of Public Health claimed that "one of the strengths of this study is that every two years, we collected detailed updated information on lifestyle factors such as BMI or smoking status and also medical confirmation of newly diagnosed heart disease."

The results regarded the main cure against health disorders in middle-aged and old men. The individuals that were not taking any kind of medication can reduce the risk of getting ill with heart disorders by 87%. Even men that were taking drugs in order to treat heart disease can decrease more serious or related health problems by 57% if they thoroughly follow the indicated rules.

The results also showed that the most unhealthy habit of all is the one of smoking, as the men in the study that quit smoking or simply did not smoke during the research cut their risk of having heart disorders with 50%, even if they did not completely respected the four other rules.

As a conclusion, Stephanie Chiuve stated: "This shows there's no substitute for a healthy lifestyle."

PHOTO CREDIT: www.niapublications.org