Risks from heart disease, stroke and certain cancers aremuch lower for registered nurses than for others, according to a report fromthe University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

The study, which followed nearly 60,000 RNs between 1974and 2000, found that during that period of time, nurses were 39% less likely todie than those in the general population. They also had a lower risk of deathfrom a number of specific causes. The full report can be found in the December2007 issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

Nurses aren’t immune to everything, however. Researchersalso discovered a direct relation between the number of years spent as a nurseand the risk of contracting melanoma, a deadly type of skin cancer. Hospitalnurses were found to be at a higher risk for lung cancer, they add. Exposure toradiation and certain drugs could play a key role, suggests report author Dr.Helen Dimich-Ward.