There's really no big trick to tacking on from six to 10 years of life. Researchers writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association say not smoking and keeping your cholesterol low and your blood pressure under control are the key ingredients.
The researchers from Northwestern University say they looked at more than 360,000 people -- many ThirdAge men and women -- and found a low risk of heart disease can add years to your life. They say the problem is there are so few people who fit the low-risk profile.
The study points out that the younger you are when you adopt a healthy lifestyle, the more years you can expect to have. In one group, researchers say they found men ages 35 to 39 who were low risk had an increased life expectancy of more than six years, compared to men ages 40 to 57.
The Chicago Heart Association Detection Project, researchers say, shows low-risk young men, from 18 to 39, could tack on an additional nine and a-half years, while men 40 to 59 could add six years. Women at low risk could expect to see an additional 5.8 years.
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