NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Adherence to a healthy diet and lifestyle can reduce the lifetime risk of heart failure and the risk of incident hypertension, according to the findings of two studies appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association for July 22/29.

In the first investigation, Dr. Luc Djousse, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data from 20,900 men in the Physicians’ Health Study I (1982-2008) to assess the link between modifiable lifestyle factors and the lifetime risk of heart failure. The subjects were followed for 22.4 years, on average.

The lifetime risk of heart failure, assessed at age 40 years, was 13.8%, the report indicates.

A variety of healthy lifestyle habits were linked to a lower risk of heart failure. These habits included maintaining a normal body weight, not smoking, regular exercise, moderate alcohol intake, consumption of breakfast cereals, and consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Men who adhered to none of the healthy lifestyle factors had the highest lifetime risk of heart failure—21.2%. While those who adhered to four or more had the lowest risk—10.1%.

The second investigation, conducted by Dr. John P. Forman and colleagues, from Harvard Medical School, Boston, involved an analysis of data from 83,882 women in the Nurses’ Health Study (1991-2005). The goal was to assess the impact that various diet and lifestyle factors had, in combination, on the risk of hypertension.

The study focused on 6 factors, previously tied to a reduced risk of hypertension: body mass index less than 25, vigorous exercise for a mean of 30 minutes/day, a high score on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, modest alcohol intake of up to 10 g/day, use of non-narcotic analgesic less than once per week, and use of 400 micrograms/day or more of supplemental folic acid.

The presence of 6, 5, 4, and 3 of the factors cut the risk of hypertension by 78%, 72%, 58%, and 54% relative to the complete absence of these factors.

The factor with the single greatest impact on hypertension was body mass index. Women who were obese (BMI of 30 or higher) were 4.7-times more likely to develop hypertension than were women with a BMI less than 23.

The authors conclude that many new cases of hypertension could be prevented through adherence to the low-risk dietary and lifestyle factors described. This, they add, could yield major public health benefits.

Reference:
JAMA 2009;302:394-411.