Does maintenance of optimal risk factor levels in middle age improve morbidity-free survival?
Maintaining optimal cardiovascular risk factors in middle age significantly prolongs morbidity-free survival, despite a high lifetime risk of CVD for all individuals.
Lifetime risk estimates for total CVD were high (>30%) for all individuals, even those with optimal risk factors in middle age. However, maintenance of optimal risk factor levels in middle age was associated with substantially longer morbidity-free survival.
Wilkins et al. (2012) studied this question.