- The American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 is a concept that defines cardiovascular health based on four modifiable behaviors, such as physical activity and sleep, and four modifiable biometric measures, such as weight, blood glucose, and blood lipid levels, that impact cardiovascular health.
- The composite cardiovascular health score measured using the aforementioned eight metrics can help clinicians measure and monitor cardiovascular health to prevent or treat cardiovascular diseases.
- A recent study showed that an optimal composite cardiovascular score based on the Life’s Essential 8 metrics was associated with longer life expectancy free of chronic conditions such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
- An accompanying study showed that the decline in deaths due to cardiovascular disease contributed significantly to the increase in life expectancy associated with good cardiovascular health.
Two related studies recently presented at the
These studies assessed CVH using the criteria defined by
“After decades of strong growth, the rise in US life expectancy has stagnated since 2010. The main reason for such a phenomenon is the poor cardiovascular health in the US population. Our study indicates that adhering to a high CVH, defined as the Life’s Essential 8 score, is related to a considerably increased life expectancy. Moreover, our findings lend support to the validity of the newly released Life’s Essentia 8 metrics in assessment and monitoring CVH in the general populations.”
In 2010, the American Heart Association (AHA) developed a prescription for health called