These benefits apply to both men and women. Even those who adopt healthier habits later in life can still experience substantial benefits. These findings were recently presented at the American College of Cardiology’s premier conference and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

The Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium assessed individual-level data of more than 2 million persons, in 39 countries across 6 continents including data from MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM‘s Keneba Biobank. This makes the study one of the most comprehensive investigations to date on the effect of risk factors on life expectancy. The consortium had earlier determined that the five traditional risk factors – smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, and being underweight or overweight/obese account for about half of all cardiovascular diseases globally. The study aimed to explore how the absence or management of these factors influences life expectancy.   

“Our study reveals that women who are free of these risk factors at age 50 develop cardiovascular disease more than 13 years later and die more than 14 years later than women with all five risk factors. Similarly, men without these risk factors live more than 10 years longer without cardiovascular disease and die more than 11 years later than men with these risk factors” says co-author Dr Modou Jobe, a Cardiologist and Epidemiologist at MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM and a member of the Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium Management Group. 

Another significant finding of the study is that behavioural changes in later life are also worthwhile. “Individuals who successfully lower their high blood pressure or quit smoking between ages 55 and 60 gain both longer lifespans and more years free of cardiovascular disease compared to those who maintain unhealthy habits”, says Professor Andrew Prentice, Head of the Nutrition and Planetary Health Theme at MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM and one of the authors. 

This study advances understanding between risk factors and life expectancy in several ways. By analysing a large, diverse global dataset of standardised individual health records, it provides more widely applicable findings than previous local studies. The research specifically shows that when people addressed at least one major health risk factor between ages 55 and 65 compared to those who did not make changes they significantly increased their healthy years of life.  

Publication:  
The Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium. Global Effect of Cardiovascular Risk Factors on Lifetime Estimates. New England Journal of Medicine. March 30, 2025. 

DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2415879 

Link: https://www-nejm-org.ez.lshtm.ac.uk/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2415879