all Dimitrios Trichopoulos stories

Sleeping your way to heart health

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:43:16 -0400

A new Harvard School of Public Health study indicates that there's more than just olive oil and red wine keeping heart disease rates down in Mediterranean countries. There's the naps, too.

A study that followed more than 23,000 people for six years showed that regular napping can cut deaths from heart disease by as much as 37 percent, providing a benefit in the same order of magnitude as that linked to lowering cholesterol, eating a healthy diet, or exercising.

People live longer at higher altitudes

50443248 — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:14:19 -0400

The high life is a healthy life, at least in Greece.
Residents of a village at an altitude of 3,100 feet suffered fewer heart attacks and lived longer than people in two nearby lowland areas, researchers from Harvard and the University of Athens found. Their study followed 1,198 men and women for l5 years.

Although the mountain dwellers on average had higher blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood fats, they died from heart disease at less than half the rate of the lowlanders. Death rates were 61 percent lower for the men, 54 percent lower for the women.

Greater physical activity and adaptation to reduced oxygen levels at moderate and high altitudes are responsible for their longer lives, the scientists conclude.

Close adherence to traditional Mediterranean diet promotes longevity

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:31:31 -0400

The traditional Mediterranean diet features an abundance of vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts and cereals and regular use of olive oil (monounsaturated fats), moderate amounts of fish and dairy products (mostly yogurt or cheese), small amounts of red meat (low intake of saturated fats) and moderate consumption of alcohol, usually in the form of wine and consumed at meals. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece, assessed the dietary habits of study participants from all regions of Greece and found that those who strongly adhered to a Mediterranean diet had improved longevity compared to study participants who did not follow that diet as closely. Using a ten point scale to measure adherence to the diet, a two point increase was related to a 25 percent reduction in total mortality among the participants. The study was supported by the Europe Against Cancer Program of the European Commission, the Greek Ministry of Health and the Greek Ministry of Education. The results appeared in the June 26, 2003 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.