3 Key Steps Cut Risk to Heart, Study Reports
Six thousand middle-aged men who were at high risk of developing heart disease have cut their chance of dying of a heart attack by nearly 25% as a result of quitting smoking, lowering their cholesterol levels through diet and taking drugs to treat high blood pressure, according to a report being published today.
The findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., appear to confirm the widely held assumption that common-sense steps to modify the behavior and treatment of those at risk for heart disease can significantly increase their life span.
They also appear to vindicate the controversial, multimillion-dollar 12,800-man Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT) that was criticized when it ended in 1982 because it was initially unable to show any difference in the health of men given special treatment for smoking, high blood pressure and diet and those who received more typical care.
“This may not entirely settle the debate over things like cholesterol,” said Marcus Kjelsberg, director of the coordinating center for the MRFIT. “But it’s an important piece of the puzzle. It suggests that there is a real benefit to intervening on these risk factors.”
The MRFIT study began in the early 1970s, following two groups of just over 6,000 men between the ages of 35 and 57 who were judged to be at high risk for heart disease because they smoked, had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. One group received normal care. The other was given dietary advice to lower cholesterol levels, medication to lower blood pressure and counseling to quit smoking.
When the study ended in 1982, after each group had been followed for about seven years, there appeared to be no difference in death rates. Today’s article reports on the two groups three years later, or 10 years after the study began.
This time the researchers found a dramatically lower incidence of fatal heart attacks, and an overall mortality rate for all causes that was 7.7% lower among those men given special treatment.
“Preventing heart disease is not like treating a cold or a headache,” said Claude Lenfant, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which sponsored the study. “It takes years to build up the risk and it takes years to eliminate it.”
The results do not address the question of which of the three risk factors is most to blame for causing heart disease.
