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July 26, 2001
Loma Linda University
New Adventist Health Study research noted in
Archives of Internal Medicine
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| Gary E. Fraser, MD, PhD, principal
investigator of the Adventist Health Study, explains recent
findings published in the July 9 issue of the Archives of Internal
Medicine which show that California Seventh-day Adventists live
significantly longer than other Californians. |
According to an article published in the July 9, 2001, issue of
the peer-reviewed Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers involved
with the Adventist Health Study—a study of 34,000 California
Seventh-day Adventists—have found that the average lifespan
of this group is significantly longer than that of the general population.
In response to the significance of these new findings, Loma Linda
University held a news conference on Monday, July 9, at the Drayson
Center Collins Auditorium.
Attending the press conference were reporters from Fox, CBS2, and
ABC7 television stations; KNX radio; and the Riverside Press-Enterprise
and San Bernardino Sun newspapers.
Gary E. Fraser, MD, PhD, principal investigator, director of the
Loma Linda University Center for Health Research, and professor
of medicine and epidemiology, explained his latest findings and
their implications.
“California Adventists appear to be the longest-lived population
that has yet been described in a formal way,” says Dr. Fraser.
“The expected ages at death in those already surviving to age
30 is 81.2 years in men and 83.9 years in women.” Dr. Fraser
continues, “This corresponds to an extra 7.3 years in men and
4.4 years in women, when compared to other Californians.”
Vegetarian Adventist men surviving to age 30, according to Dr. Fraser,
have a life expectancy of 83.3 years and vegetarian women 85.7 years—a
remarkable addition of 9.5 and 6.1 years respectively as compared
to the life expectancies of other Californians.
“Our results, looking at five common behaviors individually
or all together, directly estimate effects on life expectancy,”
explains Dr. Fraser. “We studied 34,000 California Seventh-day
Adventists between 1976 and 1988.” He adds, “This population
is especially interesting because it appears able to represent the
broader community in terms of the effect of particular behaviors
on disease.”
Further analysis showed that Adventists who were not vegetarian,
did not exercise regularly, did not eat nuts frequently, who were
past smokers, and who had a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25.9
(men) or 25.2 (women) lost 9 to 10 years of life, as compared to
Adventists who were vegetarian, exercised regularly, ate nuts five
or more times a week, were not past smokers, and who had BMI less
than 25.9 (men) or 25.2 (women).
“Although the higher risk combination was quite uncommon in
Adventists,” clarifies Dr. Fraser, “it is much more common
in the general population, as most people are nonvegetarian, eat
nuts infrequently, and obesity is very common.”
Dr. Fraser further comments, “When the effect of these factors
on life expectancy was checked one at a time, holding the other
factors at medium levels, they each accounted for between 1.25 and
2.75 years of extra life, with nut consumption and exercise having
the slightly stronger effects.”
The fact that diet, exercise, cigarette smoking, and avoiding obesity
have an impact on mortality has been understood for some time. However,
the large differences in life expectancy with their different combinations
is a new finding. Adventists are, on average, realizing much of
this predicted benefit, despite great variation in their individual
adherence to healthful behaviors.
“Our results strongly suggest that there is real potential
for other Americans to also extend their life expectancy by 5 to
10 years with relatively simple behavioral choices,” Dr. Fraser
concludes.
The press conference resulted in several news stories, including
those in the Press-Enterprise and Sun, as well as television spots.
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