Kudos to Nurses as NHS Participants

I recently received my semi-annual newsletter from the long-running, three-part Nurses’ Health Study, conducted by Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

The Nurses’ Health Study 1 (NHS1) began in 1976 with more than 120,000 RNs, ages 30 to 55. Its goal was to examine how lifestyle affects the risk of developing cancer and the long-term consequences of oral contraceptive use.

NHS2 commenced in 1989 with nearly 117,000 RNs, ages 25 to 42, for essentially the same reasons with a few modifications.

NHS3 began in 2010 and examines similar issues, and also looks at how working the night shift and the new generation of birth control pills affect women’s health. This third study is still enrolling both RNs and LPNs/LVNs.

I joined NHS2 in 1989 and look forward to the regular newsletters that keep participants up on study findings. Here is what the latest edition tells us:

• Body mass index (BMI) definitely affects the aging process. An increased BMI in midlife means a reduced chance of surviving to age 70. For example, in the study, obese nurses (BMI of 30 or greater) had an 80 percent lower chance of healthy survival compared to women with BMIs of between 18.5 and 22.9.
• The more weight a woman gained from age 18 until midlife, the less likely her chance for healthy survival after age 70.
• Higher physical activity levels at midlife were significantly associated with healthier survival.
• Women who jogged or cycled about five hours a week nearly doubled their chance of healthy aging.
• Two or more hours a week of brisk walking increased the chance of healthy aging.

The study also looks at genetic factors and the aging of cells.

Scientists know that telomeres, the protective end caps that protect the chromosomes, get shorter each time a cell divides. In the NHS, researchers found that shorter telomeres are associated with a higher risk of certain age-related diseases like bladder cancer and cognitive decline. Investigators also found that maintaining a healthy weight and higher activity levels and refraining from smoking helps maintain telomere length.

Here are a few of the NHS’s earlier findings:

• Taking oral contraceptives decreases the risk of developing colon cancer and the “wet” type of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
• Taking post-menopausal hormones reduces the risk of colon cancer, hip fractures and wet AMD.
• Current use of hormones in recently post-menopausal women may reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD).
• Taking estrogen plus progestins for more than five years increases risk of developing breast cancer.
• Breast cancer seems to have no relation to past or current smoking, but there is a positive association between smoking and CHD and stroke. This increased risk disappears within two to four years after quitting.
• Smoking increases the risk of developing colon cancer, hip fractures (for current smokers), cataracts and wet AMD.
• Higher vegetable intake, especially green leafy vegetables, reduces the risk of cognitive impairment.
• High insulin levels, even in women without diabetes type 2, increases the risk of cognitive impairment.
• High consumption of alcohol increases the risk of hip fracture, while low or moderate consumption is associated with greater bone density.

Some future topics of exploration include physical ability and disability; optimism and resilience; and how sleep affects health.

The best and most amazing aspects of these studies are their longevity, size and the response rate of participants, which is about 90 percent. Nurses have been exceedingly cooperative when it comes to completing questionnaires and doing follow-up testing. This faithfulness to research will not only benefit nurses but women everywhere.

If you are an RN or LPN between the ages of 22 and 45, consider signing up for NHS3. Unlike NHS1 and NHS2, researchers are not sending out signup forms, but rather are relying on nurses to join by visiting www.nhs3.org.

Do your part!

Have you been a participant in either NHS1 or NHS2?

What do you think you’ve gained by participating?

Do you have any advice for nurses who are considering participating in NHS3?

Tell us what you think.