Years of Heavy Smoking Raises Heart Risks Do not smoke and keep your BP < 120/80 and you will live longer Thursday 28th May 2009: New Delhi HCFI:  Want to reduce your risk of dying prematurely? Don't smoke and keep a healthy blood pressure level, said Dr KK Aggarwal President Heart Care Foundation of India and Director IMAAKN Sinha Institute. Each of those factors accounts for about one in five deaths among adults. Dr Majid Ezzati, at Harvard School of Public Health in the  journal PLoS Medicine has shown that other dietary, metabolic and lifestyle factors also accounted for a substantial number of deaths including: Smoking Physical inactivity High salt intake Low intake of fruits and vegetables High blood sugar levels High "bad" cholesterol Overweight or obesity High intake of trans fat High intake of salt Low intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids Low intake of omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish) Alcohol intake They used data from national health surveys and from the U.S. National Center on Health Statistics, to estimate how many lives would be saved and deaths prevented if a risk factor were at the optimal level, creating what they called a comparative risk assessment. The optimal level for smoking, for instance, would be no smokers. Being overweight or being physically inactive each accounted for 1 in 10 deaths. The dietary risks associated with the highest risk of death were high salt intake, low omega-3 intake and high trans fat intake. It's a good idea to stop smoking and to periodically visit your doctor to get your blood pressure and your cholesterol checked.