The road to health in later life for women (and men) over 50

New research obtained from a US study has been published on the British Medical Journal website and indicates that premature deaths among women are often caused by poor lifestyle factors such as an unhealthy diet, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and remaining overweight.

The research is drawn from a study involving 80,000 female respondents who were between the ages of 34 and 59 when the study began in 1980 and who completed full questionnaires about their health and lifestyle habits over the course of the 24 years.

By this time in 2004, there were 8,882 deaths including 4,527 from cancer and 1,790 from heart disease. Over 25% of these deaths were caused by smoking, the authors from the Harvard School of Public Health found. They also determined that if more women had maintained a healthy weight, eaten fewer fatty foods and had pursued regular exercise, the percentage of deaths would have been reduced by over half.

Results from this study show that it's never too late for women to make lifestyle changes in order to benefit their health and extend their life expectancy. Just quitting smoking, moderating alcohol intake and eating a healthy balanced diet, along with basic everyday activity such as walking to the shops can be very effective in improving one's overall health. The study shows that such sensible lifestyle choices can help to avoid early death from cardiovascular disease and cancer. Confirming earlier research the paper states "Even modest differences in lifestyle can have a substantial impact on reducing mortality rates". It is certainly very heartening that just small improvements in an individual's lifestyle can have such far reaching effects! The important thing is to be aware of what you can do to remain healthy well past retirement age, along with limiting the factors which have a negative impact on your health and well-being.

And you don't have to give up drinking either. The study shows that moderate drinking is a better option than total abstinence and women who enjoy a glass of wine or beer with a meal are actually benefitting their heart more than if they abstained from alcohol altogether, as alcohol has been shown to have a protective cardiovascular influence due to the high antioxidant content mainly found in red wine and beer.

So if you are over 50 and want to live until you reach the ripe old age of 100, just remember to eat healthily, stay active, drink alcohol - in moderation and don't smoke!

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