Study shows healthy living in women reduces mortality risks

NEW YORK Women who live a healthy lifestyle reduce their risk of dying young from any cause, especially heart disease and cancer, according to a Harvard University study.

The study found that women who avoid smoking, exercise and keep their weight at a healthy level and eat healthy foods live longer than those who don’t.

The study used data on 77,782 women who participated in a health study at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital collected through annual questionnaires over 24 years, starting in 1980. Of the 8,882 women who died, 4,527 died from cancer and 1,790 died from heart disease, but those who lived healthy lifestyles reduced their risk of death by 55 percent, including the risk of cancer-related death by 44 percent and of cardiovascular disease-related death by 72 percent.

The study appeared online in the Sept. 17 edition of the British Medical Journal.