Adopting eight lifestyle changes, such as eating well and getting sufficient sleep, could add more than 20 years to a person's life, even if the changes are made in middle age, research suggests.
The study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, analysed data from more than 700,000 US veterans aged 40 to 99. The researchers found that those who adopted all eight therapeutic lifestyle factors could gain over two decades of life expectancy compared with those who adopted none.
Being physically inactive, using opioid drugs and smoking were associated with a 30-45% higher risk of death during the study period, while stress, binge-drinking, poor sleep hygiene and poor diet each raised the risk by about 20%.
Xuan-Mai T Nguyen, a health science specialist at the US Department of Veteran Affairs, said: 'The earlier the better, but even if you only make a small change in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, it still is beneficial.'
The researchers cautioned that the observational nature of the work meant it could not prove a causal link. However, Prof Naveed Sattar of the University of Glasgow welcomed the findings, stating: 'These data add to the notion that how we live our lives matters as much if not more than the medicines we receive.'
