Four behaviors combined — exercise, not smoking, healthy eating, and moderate drinking — are associated with a significant drop in stroke risk among older people, according to aBMJ study.

U.K. researchers ascertained the health behaviors of a cohort of some 20,000 adults aged 40 to 79. The group was then followed for an average of 11 years.

Over that period, those not engaging in any of four specific healthy behaviors had more than twice the risk for stroke as those engaging in all four — exercising regularly (or having a nonsedentary occupation), not smoking, eating five or more portions of fruits and vegetables daily, and drinking moderately. (The risk for stroke increased linearly with increasing numbers of unhealthy behaviors.)

An editorialist comments that modifying lifestyle behaviors "across a population has a greater potential for overall reduction in stroke than modifying more powerful risk factors (such as carotid stenosis and atrial fibrillation) in a smaller number of people."

Article in the BMJ website