Originally published March 23 2005
Mountain living may lead to longer life, study says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A study of people who live in Greece shows that those who live in the mountains have longer lives and are less likely to die of heart disease than those who live at sea level. This is despite the fact that mountain dwellers seem to be at a greater risk of heart disease, the researchers say. Scientists say the less oxygen at high altitudes give the heart a better, life-long workout in the mountains.
Mountain dwellers live longer than people in lowland areas, finds research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The findings are based on tracking the cardiovascular health and death rates of 1150 inhabitants of three villages not far from Athens, Greece, for a period of 15 years.
In Greece, deaths from heart disease and all causes are among the lowest of any developed country.
One of the villages is located in a mountainous area almost 1000 meters above sea level; the other two are located on the plains.
Information on risk factors, including gender, age, weight, smoking habit, blood pressure, and alcohol consumption, were collected for each person in 1981.
Blood samples were also taken to build up the profile of biochemical health.
Overall, both men and women living in the mountain village had a worse coronary heart disease risk profile than their peers living in the lowland area, with higher rates of circulating blood lipids and higher blood pressure.
In 1996 the researchers assessed the number of survivors.
Of these, 67 deaths, 34 of which were among the men, were attributable to coronary heart disease.
But after taking account of all the cardiovascular risk factors, mountain village residents had lower death rates, and lower rates of death from heart disease, than their peers in the lowlands.
The researchers conclude that as blood lipids and blood pressure were higher among the mountain residents, other 'protective' factors must be at play.
They point out that living at moderately high altitude produces long term physiological changes in the body to enable it to cope with lower levels of oxygen, and that this, combined with the exertion required to walk uphill regularly on rugged terrain, could give the heart a better work-out.
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