Colorado has the nation's lowest death rate from heart disease and has lower rates of lung and colon cancer.

1. Recent studies have indicated that there are definite health benefits to living at altitude.

2. Start with obesity. "We've known since the 1920s (that) if you go to really high altitudes you will lose weight," says Robert Roach, director of the Altitude Research Center in Aurora, Colo., which studies how hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, affects health and performance.

3. Because obesity can lead to a host of other problems — diabetes, heart and lung issues — keeping the weight off can only help.

4. Researchers note that Colorado has the nation's lowest death rate from heart disease and has lower rates of lung and colon cancer.

5. The findings echoed a study published in the journal in 2004. Researchers studied villages in Greece and found total and coronary mortality were lower for residents of a mountainous village in comparison with residents of two lowland villages.

6. "If you look at people who live at high altitude around the world, incidents of most types of heart disease and stroke are much less," Roach says.

7. Altitude is not a panacea, of course. The risk of skin cancer is higher because ultraviolet intensity is greater at higher elevations.

8. 7 of 10: Of the top 10 counties in the U.S. for longevity were high-altitude counties in Colorado, with an average life span of 81.3 years, according to a study.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-07/health/sc-health-0907-living-at-altitude-20110907_1_heart-disease-high-altitude-lung-disease