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The data in the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study underscore the importance of exercise and a diet high in vegetables and fruit.

For Abbey Alkon, RN, PhD, the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study is more than just an important research tool. It’s also a family affair. Not only is Alkon a participant in the study, but her mother and daughter also have contributed information.

The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study represents one of the largest prospective studies investigating risk factors for cancer, heart disease, dementia, and other chronic diseases in women. It began in 1976, with 121,000 nurses ranging in age from 30 to 55, who live in the 11 most populous states.

Today, more than 200,000 nurses throughout the country participate in the study, the longest-running study of women’s health in the world.

For nurses such as Alkon, the study’s findings yield important information on women’s health care issues. In the past year, the study released data on issues ranging from the health effects of postmenopausal hormones to preventing osteoporosis — information that study investigators would like to see used by nurses to improve their own health as well as that of their patients.

Alkon, associate professor in the department of family health care nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, says the study findings have helped her take a closer look at her own self-care habits.

“After reading the study data on osteoporosis, I have begun taking a calcium supplement,” Alkon says. “I also try to exercise three times a week based on study results that show that regular exercise can help prevent heart disease, obesity, breast cancer, and osteoporosis.”

Alkon also regularly shares study findings with the 140 students she teaches each year in her “Research Methods” course, part of the master’s program at the UCSF School of Nursing.

A study participant since 1981, Alkon notes that her mother, who is also a nurse, has contributed to the study for the past 20 years. Alkon’s teenage daughter recently enrolled in a new study looking at teenagers whose mothers are nurses.

“I truly believe that this is one of the most important health studies in the United States,” Alkon says. “Because there are so many nurses and we are compliant with completing forms, we can provide data needed to understand many common health problems. I hope this data will help us find the etiology of breast cancer along with many of the other diseases that affect women.”

Helping to shape science

Sue Hankinson, RN, ScD, senior investigator for the Nurses’ Health Study, finds her work on the project to be highly rewarding.

“We have a stellar group of participants who have been working with us for many years,” Hankinson says. “We have a participation rate of over 90%, and because of the information provided to us, we’re able to research myriad health issues.”

In addition to regularly filling out questionnaires, study participants also are asked to submit toenail clippings and blood samples, which investigators use to identify dietary mineral intake, potential biomarkers, hormone levels, and genetic markers.

“We see a lot of central themes reinforced through our study,” Hankinson says. “Much of our data has shown time and time again how being overweight can lead to heart disease, colon and breast cancers, an increased risk of cataracts and gallstones, and also have an adverse effect on a woman’s fertility.”

Hankinson also cites data that have shown the importance of regular exercise.

“Moderate weight-bearing exercise such as walking has been shown to decrease risk of diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis,” Hankinson says. “Our study showed that women who walked at least four hours a week had a 40% reduction in the risk of hip fractures. For postmenopausal women, walking eight hours a week provided the same protection against fractures as hormones did, while also lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.”

Hankinson says that some of the study’s most interesting current research is looking at early life events and the effect they have on a woman’s health as she ages.

“We have some preliminary evidence showing that women who consumed higher levels of vitamin E when they were younger may have a decreased risk of developing breast cancer,” Hankinson says. “This is an area we are researching further in order to confirm these findings.”

Another new development is a possible link between women who have a high intake of fruit and vegetables, and a decreased risk of macular degeneration.