126 researchers from 39 different countries analyzed data from more than two million people, confirming the effect of risk factors on life expectancy. This makes this study, whose results were published this week in the New England Journal of Medicinethe most comprehensive ever conducted to date. A large-scale study, to which [the following] contributed Philippe Amouyel, university professor and hospital practitioner at the University of Lille and the Lille University Hospital and Research Unit Director (ULille, Inserm / University Hospital of Lille / Pasteur Institute of Lille).
People who, at age 50, do not smoke, have normal blood pressure, maintain low cholesterol levels, do not suffer from diabetes, and maintain a healthy weight not only live longer but also remain free of cardiovascular disease for a longer period. This applies to both women and men. Nevertheless, those who modify their lifestyle after age 50 can still reap benefits in terms of increasing their life expectancy. This is the main finding of a large-scale study conducted by researchers from the international consortium " Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium* The results were presented at the main congress of the American College of Cardiology and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“The five classic risk factors – smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and being underweight or overweight/obesity – are responsible for about half of all cardiovascular diseases worldwide. We wanted to understand how the absence or control of these factors influences life expectancy,” explains Professor Philippe Amouyel, Professor of Public Health at Lille University Hospital and director of the Joint Research Unit (University of Lille/Inserm/Lille University Hospital/Pasteur Institute of Lille). “U1167 – Risk factors and molecular determinants of age-related diseases”, co-author of this study.
The study reveals that women without these risk factors at age 50 develop cardiovascular disease 13,3 years later and die 14,5 years later than those with all five risk factors. Men without these risk factors live 10,6 years longer without cardiovascular disease and die 11,8 years later than those with these risk factors. Another important finding of the study is that behavioral changes even after 50 years These measures help improve healthy life expectancy. Among the five risk factors, people who manage to control their hypertension or quit smoking between the ages of 55 and 60 live longer and remain free of cardiovascular disease for longer than those who do not change their lifestyle.
Publication
*The Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium. Global Effect of Cardiovascular Risk Factors on Lifetime Estimates. New England Journal of Medicine. March 30, 2025.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2415879
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