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Maintaining heart health early in life pays off later

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

Individuals who develop healthy lifestyles during early adulthood may be significantly less likely to receive unhealthy cholesterol test results later in life. A new study has found that the decisions a person makes while they are young impact their risk of cardiovascular disease in middle age.

A team of researchers from Northwestern University tracked the health and lifestyle habits of a group of participants in their early 20s over a 20-year period. During this time, the investigators measured participants against five areas of a healthy lifestyle. These included body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking status, diet and exercise.

The results showed that 60 percent of participants who had healthy scores in all five areas at the beginning of the study made it to middle age free of heart disease. However, only 5 percent of individuals who had no healthy scores maintained good cardiovascular health.

"In this study, even people with a family history of heart problems were able to have a low cardiovascular disease risk profile if they started living a healthy lifestyle when they were young," said lead researcher Kian Liu.