(September 17, 2009 - Insidermedicine)

Controlling modifiable risk factors for heart disease, including blood pressure, cholesterol, and smoking, can have a dramatic effect on the life expectancy of middle-aged men, according to research published online ahead of print in the British Medical Journal.

Here are some tips to help you reduce your risk of heart disease:

•       Don't smoke or use any tobacco products

•       Follow your doctor's directions for use of drugs to control blood pressure and cholesterol

•       Eat a healthy diet low in saturated fats and cholesterol

Researchers from the University of Oxford followed nearly 19,000 men working for the civil service in London for 38 years to see how their cardiovascular risk factors affected their life expectancy. The men were examined at the outset of the study, in 1967 to 1970, and nearly 5,000 were examined again in 1997.

At the outset of the study, 42% of the men were smokers, 39% had high blood pressure, and 51% had high cholesterol. During the second examination period, about two-thirds of the smokers had quit, and the differences between those with the highest and lowest blood pressure and cholesterol scores had diminished by about two-thirds. Men with all three of these cardiovascular risk factors at age 50 had a 10-year shorter life expectancy than those with none of them. Similarly, men calculated to be in the highest 5% for cardiovascular risk, based on multiple risk factors, had a 15-year shorter life-expectancy at age 50 than those in the lowest 5% for risk.

Today's research highlights the importance of controlling risk factors for cardiovascular disease, as doing so can increase your life by as much as a decade or more.