Do simple prudent health behaviours protect men from myocardial infarction?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: We tested whether behaviours such as discarding obvious fat on meat, cessation of smoking, avoidance of passive smoking, habitual use of reduced fat milk, prudent consumption of alcohol and regular but moderate physical exercise are associated with a reduction of cardiovascular risk. METHODS: This was a population-based case-control study done in Perth, Western Australia. The cases (n = 336) were men aged 27-64 years with a first-ever acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during the period 1992-1993, and who survived at least 28 days. The controls (n = 735) were participants in a population-based survey of cardiovascular risk factors conducted during May-November 1994. Both groups completed the same questionnaire and the data were analysed with multiple logistic regression using backward elimination technique. RESULTS: Among men aged 27-64 years simple measures such as participation in nonvigorous exercise (odds ratio [OR] = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.4-0.7), and avoidance of added salt (OR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.4-0.9) are associated with significant and important protection from AMI. CONCLUSION: After 25 years of falling mortality in Australia, lifestyles can still be significantly improved to reduce heart disease even further.