Good Life-style=Good Health

DO PERSONAL life-style practices influence one's health? What is the relationship between daily events in a person's life and the whole spectrum of his physical health?

To find answers to such questions, a study of adult residents of Alameda County, California, was carried out by the Human Population Laboratory of the California State Department of Public Health. The investigation, begun in 1965 and headed by Dr. Lester Breslow, now Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, has already come up with almost incredible findings. ^{1, 2}

First, participants in the study answered a questionnaire that zeroed in on simple life-style practices and personal health status. The investigators had already decided which practices they considered to have a positive influence on health and which were negative. And, interestingly, they focused on parameters that included cigarette smoking, use of alcoholic beverages, physical recreational activities (exercise), regularity of meals, weight, and sleeping habits.

The health status of individuals within the various groups, depending on how many good health practices they adhered to, was compared on an age-adjusted basis to determine the value of each.

Amazingly, there was a cumulative relationship among these activities. That is, the more of the good health habits an individual practiced the better were his chances of longevity, and presumably, therefore, he will have a better health status. Also, those who fol lowed all the good health practices were in better health, even though older in age than those who failed to do so. This association of better health and good health practices was found to be independent of age, sex, and economic status. The keys to the better (and longer and more productive) life were regularity and moderation.

Specifically, what points were listed as "good health practices" in the Alameda County study?

1. Eating breakfast almost every day.

2. Never or rarely eating between meals.

3. Never smoking cigarettes.

4. Usually sleeping for eight hours.

5. No more than moderate drinking of alcoholic beverages.

6. Often or sometimes engaging in active sports or swimming, taking long walks, often gardening, or doing physical exercises.

7. Maintaining an ideal weight for height. For men this is between not more than 5 per cent under and 20 per cent over the ideal, and for women it is between the ideal and not more than 10 per cent over the ideal.

Seventh-day Adventists recognize these health practices as being uncannily similar to the health principles they have been so long advocating and that are listed in the book The Ministry of Healing as follows: "Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power—these are the true remedies." —The Ministry of Healing, p. 127.

Not only was each of the good health practices found to be independently important but the more practices adhered to the better the individual's health.

What does this mean in simple terms—like dying younger? Just this: a person adhering to all seven good health practices would be less likely to die prematurely than would a person of the same age who practiced only six or so, and so on down to the person whose life-style includes none of the good practices. Those practicing none have the highest death rate. Table 1 shows the results of an analysis of the data after only five and one-half years. At age 45, a man following fewer than four good health practices could expect to live only 22 more years, while the man adhering to six or seven could expect to live 33 more!

Beyond the stark reality of death rates are the more subtle differences in the efficient functioning of individuals in the various categories. Dr. Breslow estimates that a person who is following fewer than four of the good health practices would be as old physiologically at 30 chronological years as the person who follows all seven is at 60! Obviously there are differences in the quality of a person's life that the quantity of years cannot accurately measure.

This has been pointed out before. "The laws of nature, being the laws of God, are designed for our good; . . . obedience to them promotes happiness in this life, and aids in the preparation for the life to come." —The Ministry of Healing, p. 146.

Recent research pinpoints an additional factor that contributes to the better way of life and helps explain why people of various religious faiths have better health.

Peace—Balm for the Heart

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones" (Prov. 17:22).

We are accustomed to hearing of the increased risk of disease when a person smokes cigarettes, drinks alcoholic beverages, and eats a high-cholesterol and high-fat diet, but whoever thinks of a peaceful life as important?

A Maryland study of deaths from heart disease revealed that a person who attended church was about half as likely to die of heart disease as was a person of the same age who didn't at tend church.

In Sweden, women were found to suffer much more from heart attacks or angina pectoris (chest pains resulting from insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle) when experiencing sustained stress (tension, fear, anxiety, or sleep disturbances related to interpersonal conflicts) for a year or more.

Even more striking was a recent study of 10,000 American men. Problems and conflicts in the areas of finance, family, work, co-workers, and superiors were all found to significantly increase the likelihood of angina pectoris. It was the magnitude or intensity of the problem that was important, not its specific content. Men who reported severe problems either with their families or with co-workers had two and one-half times the number of new cases of clinically diagnosed angina as did men reporting no problems in these areas. All five problem areas showed a similar effect.³