Middle-aged smokers could face reduced life span
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Middle-aged smokers with high cholesterol and high blood pressure could see their lives cut by a decade, researchers have warned.
The three risk factors combined cut life expectancy by ten years among over-50s compared with people who do not smoke and have normal blood and cholesterol levels.
People with other health worries, such as being overweight, could fare worse, shaving 15 years off their lives.
The stark warning comes as the result of a study on 19,000 men, who were followed for an average of 38 years.
Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which helped fund the research, said: 'This important study provides a stark illustration of how these risk factors in middle age can reduce life expectancy.
'The good news is that all of us can make changes to help us live a healthy life for longer, even after 50.'
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