Scientists have revealed the age smoking, heavy alcohol consumption and a lack of exercise can really start to affect your health, according to a new study published in the medical journal Annals of Medicine
Researchers found that the three “risky behaviors” can start to trigger problems in people as young as 36
“It is never too late to change to healthier habits. Adopting healthier habits in midlife also has benefits for older age,” health scientist and lead author Dr. Tiia Kekäläinen said, per a press release
Heavy alcohol consumption, smoking and exercising could lead to a decline in health in people as young as 36 years old, a new study has found.
The study — which is included in the peer-reviewed medical journal Annals of Medicine, published by Taylor & Francis — saw researchers from Finnish universities follow “hundreds of children who were born in the Finnish city of Jyväskylä,” from “childhood until their early 60s,” per a press release from the book’s publisher.
“The team analyzed participants’ mental and physical health via data that was collected from surveys and medicals when they were 27 years old (326 participants) and again at age 36, 42, 50 and 61 (206 participants),” the release, published on Thursday, April 24, stated.
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Participants’ mental health was “assessed via surveys on symptoms of depression and on psychological wellbeing,” while physical health “was assessed by creating a metabolic risk score based on blood pressure, waist size and levels of blood sugar, cholesterol and other blood fats,” the release said.
The piece continued, “Three risky behaviours were also assessed at each point in time: smoking, heavy drinking (defined as consuming at least 7,000g/875 units of alcohol a year for women and 10,000g/1,250 units a year for men) and physical inactivity (exercising less than once a week).”
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The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans currently recommends that men over 21 should not drink more than two drinks per day, and women over 21 should only have one drink per day.
The recently published study’s findings “suggest that the associations were mainly similar across time from age 36 to 61,” in a discussion about the “risky health behaviors.”
“Thus, the cumulative association of earlier risky behaviors exists already at age 36 and not only in the later phases of midlife,” it added. “While risky health behaviors in midlife have been previously associated with unfavorable health outcomes in old age, these associations exist already earlier in adulthood.”
Related: Majority of U.S. Teens Are Not Drinking, Smoking or Using Marijuana, Study Finds
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The publisher’s news release added, “Analysis of the results showed that if an individual had all three unhealthy habits – they smoked, drank heavily and were inactive – at a given point in time, their mental and physical health were poorer than if they didn’t have any of these risky behaviours.”
“Lack of exercise was particularly linked to poor physical health, smoking was mainly linked to poor mental health and heavy alcohol consumption was associated with declines in both mental and physical health,” it went on, stating that “the effects were apparent by the time the participants were in their mid-30s.”
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Health scientist and the study’s lead author, Dr. Tiia Kekäläinen, said, “Non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer cause almost three-quarters of deaths worldwide,” per the release.
“But by following a healthy lifestyle, an individual can cut their risk of developing these illnesses and reduce their odds of an early death,” Kekäläinen added.
“Our findings highlight the importance of tackling risky health behaviors, such as smoking, heavy drinking and physical inactivity, as early as possible to prevent the damage they do to from building up over the years, culminating in poor mental and physical health later in later life,” the researcher continued.
“However, it is never too late to change to healthier habits. Adopting healthier habits in midlife also has benefits for older age,” Kekäläinen added, according to the release.
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Researchers noted that “the results are likely to apply to people born in Finland and other Western countries in late 1950s and in the 1960s,” but might “not be as relevant to younger generations, owing to cultural and societal changes, and partly different risky behaviors occurring nowadays,” the release added.
The findings come after a study published earlier this month via the scientific journal Neurology saw researchers find that heavy drinkers who consumed eight or more alcoholic drinks a week had an increased risk of developing brain lesions associated with diseases like Alzheimer’s.
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