Loading...
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) can be the first manifestation of coronary artery disease (CAD); thus, lifestyle factors that influence CAD risk might also affect risk for SCD. Investigators used data from the Nurses' Health Study to assess how SCD risk was affected by four modifiable lifestyle factors — smoking, weight, exercise, and diet — among nearly 82,000 women (age range at baseline, 30–55) without known CAD. The women, whose lifestyle factors were updated every 2 to 4 years, were considered to have one or more low-risk factors if they were not current smokers, had body-mass indexes <25 kg/m2, exercised ≥30 minutes daily, or scored in the top 40% of the cohort for adherence to a Mediterranean diet.
During 26 years of follow-up, 321 SCDs oc…