Mountain living beneficial, study finds

Is mountain living healthier? Apparently so, at least if you’re a farmer or herder.

A 15-year study has found that Greek villagers living in the mountains had lower mortality rates, and even lower death rates from heart disease, than comparable villagers living in the lowlands.

In the study of three villages about 130 miles from Athens, Greek researchers found that the effect of living in the mountains was especially pronounced for men, who were almost half as likely to die from heart disease as men living in the valleys. The mountain village was about 3,500 feet above sea level, while the lowland villages were near sea level.

Reporting in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the researchers concluded that the benefit was most likely the result of the increased physical activity of the mountain villagers, as well as their physical adaptation to the lower oxygen levels of mountain air. They came to those conclusions because the villagers at higher elevations did not have either lower blood pressure or lower cholesterol levels – two common predictors of longevity and cardiac health.

The study followed 1,150 people and took into account factors including age, weight, smoking, alcohol consumption and education. In all three villages, the men were farmers and animal herders and the women were homemakers.

Although overall mortality rates were lower for the mountain villagers, they were not substantially so. Death rates from heart disease, however, were significantly lower in the mountains, especially for men – who spent much of their days walking up and down the hills as they plowed the fields and tended the flocks. It was that activity, the researchers concluded, that provided a “protective effect” for the men.