Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2014, reporting on a study published that year; the findings it describes were current news at that time.
Until now there were sayings such as that every cigarette we smoke takes 5 minutes off our life, or that every hour of exercise adds 10 minutes to it. Now, however, a 30-year study carried out by the University of Zurich has for the first time put figures on the years we gain or lose depending on habits that can lead to diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease or chronic respiratory disease.
The study began in 1977 and followed 16,721 people. It took into account factors such as smoking, alcohol, fruit consumption and physical activity, and looked at the impact of lifestyle on death rates up to 2008.
As you would expect, smoking carries the greatest risk of early death, with a 57% higher risk of dying prematurely. An unhealthy diet and little physical activity, as well as drinking alcohol, can raise the death rate by up to 15%.
When all four factors are combined (smoking, alcohol, a poor diet and little physical activity), the death rate shoots up. A 65-year-old has a 35% chance of living another 10 years when all the risk factors are combined, while people who stay away from these risk factors have a 67% chance of living another 10 years.
For women, the survival odds are higher in both cases: a 47% chance of reaching 75 with all four risk factors, and a 74% chance without them.
The study concludes that by the age of 65, smoking and a lifelong lack of exercise push death rates up dramatically.
The study was led by Dr Brian Martin.
Featured image: Guérin Nicolas ( messages ), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
