7 steps to a longer life

The lifestyle rules were originally created to help people cut the risk of heart disease. But the new study shows the seven steps have an even greater impact – and can also slash cancer risk by half. One lead researcher said the message was: "It's never too late to change." The seven steps are staying physically active, sticking to a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet, maintaining good cholesterol levels, keeping blood pressure down, controlling blood sugar levels and not smoking. Researchers found that people who stuck to six or all seven of the factors reduced the risk of cancer by 51 per cent, compared with those who met none of the factors. Following four of the steps led to a 33 per cent risk reduction. Sticking to just one or two goals resulted in a reduction of one-fifth. Lead author of the US study, Dr Laura Rasmussen-Torvik, said: "This adds to the strong body of literature suggesting that it's never too late to change, and that if you make changes like quitting smoking and improving your diet, you can reduce your risk for both cardiovascular disease and cancer." The American Heart Association originally created the "Life's Simple 7" list to help people cut their risk of heart disease. However, in the association's journal Circulation, Dr Rasmussen-Torvik, said: "We were gratified to know adherence to the Life's Simple 7 goals was also associated with reduced incidence of cancer." Dr Rasmussen-Torvik, assistant professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said the study could help health professionals "provide a clear, consistent message" about the most important things people can do. The study of 13,253 people spanned 20 years and involved establishing their health factors and reviewing hospital records. It found that 2,880 developed cancer, mostly of the lung, colon or rectum, prostate and breast. Dr Helga Groll of Cancer Research UK said: "This study is a good reminder that a healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of more than one type of disease. "Living a healthy lifestyle doesn't guarantee a person won't develop cancer, but it helps stack the odds in our favour." Amy Thompson, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "It's perhaps no surprise that the lifestyle choice which had the biggest impact on health was smoking. "Smoking is linked to a quarter of all cancer deaths in the UK and smokers are around twice as likely to have a heart attack than non-smokers. "Quitting smoking is the single best thing you can do for your heart health." The research comes after a Lloyds Pharmacy study released last month revealed that most Britons do nothing to help them avoid heart disease. Heart disease kills 80,000 Britons a year and is responsible for one in nine deaths of women – three times as many as breast cancer. There are 2.7 million people in the UK with heart disease. About 16 million Britons have high blood pressure – a major cause of cardiovascular disease and death, causing 60 per cent of strokes and 40 per cent of heart attacks. The recent Global Burden of Disease Study revealed that in the developed world, Britons are far more likely to die from treatable diseases.  The report, published in The Lancet, said the conditions causing most years of life lost were, in order: heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections, colorectal cancer, breast cancer and self-harm.