TABLE 2—

Major Findings From the Nurses’ Health Studies Regarding Lifestyle and Cardiovascular Disease: United States, 1976–2016

Exposure	Year of First Publication	General Findings and Associations
Smoking	1981	Higher risk with active and passive smoking; lower risk with smoking cessation
Physical activity	1999	Lower risk with moderate intensity activity, such as brisk walking
BMI and fat distribution	1990	Risk increases monotonically with BMI and fat distribution as measured by waist circumference or waist to height ratio; moderate weight gain since young adulthood increases risk
Shift work	1995	Higher risk of CVD and CVD mortality with longer time doing shift work
Sleep-related exposures	2000	Reductions in HDL and elevations in CRP associated with long or short sleep durations; snoring associated with higher risk of CVD
Phobic anxiety	2005	Higher risk of CHD and SCD
Caregiving	2003	Higher risk of CHD
Job strain	2002	No association with CHD
Job insecurity	2004	Higher risk of short-term MI
Depressive symptoms	2009	Higher risk of CHD and SCD
Oral contraceptives	1980	Higher risk of CHD and MI with current use
Postmenopausal hormone use	1981	Lower risk of CHD in women initiating hormone therapy in early, but not late, menopause; higher risk of stroke in all age groups
Aspirin use	1999	1–6 aspirin/wk associated with lower risk of stroke but > 15 may increase risk

Note. BMI = body mass index; CHD = coronary heart disease; CRP = C-reactive protein; CVD = cardiovascular disease; HDL = high-density lipoprotein; MI = myocardial infarction; SCD = sudden cardiac death.