Women who eat right, exercise and never smoke tobacco more than halve the risk of dying from cancer or heart disease, a long-term study released Wednesday said.
The study is based on data provided by 80,000 women in the United States who were between 34 and 59 years old when the investigation began in 1980.
Over the next 24 years, the volunteers filled out detailed questionnaires about their diet, physical activity, alcohol intake, weight and disease history.
By 2004, 8,882 of the women in the group had died, 1,790 from heart disease and 4,527 from cancer.
The authors, led by Rob van Dam of the Harvard School of Public Health, calculated that smoking alone accounted for more than a quarter of the deaths.
Fifty-five percent of the fatalities could have been avoided if, in addition to not using tobacco, the women had stayed slim, avoided fatty foods and exercised regularly.
A glass of wine or beer with dinner every night offered some protection against against heart disease, the study found, confirming earlier research.
"Even modest differences in lifestyle can have a substantial impact on reducing mortality rates," said the paper, published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
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AFP 161815 GMT 09 08
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