Adopting these lifestyle changes can help minimize the occurrence of chronic diseases, despite any inherent genetic predispositions.
The American Heart Association (AHA) has recently updated its guidelines for evaluating and promoting cardiovascular health, transitioning from Life's Simple 7 to Life's Essential 8. This new scoring system places a greater emphasis on sleep health, recognising its crucial role in cardiovascular outcomes.
The Life's Essential 8 (LE8) evaluates eight factors, each rated on a scale from 0 to 100. These components include diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep health, Body Mass Index (BMI), blood glucose, blood lipids, and blood pressure. By combining four health behaviours and four clinical health factors, an integrated Cardiovascular Health (CVH) score between 0 and 100 is created. The overall LE8 score is categorized as low (<50), moderate (50-79), or high (≥80) cardiovascular health.
Researchers have found that each improvement by 1 point on the Life's Simple 7 scale was associated with significant health benefits. For instance, it was linked to an 11% decrease in dementia risk, a 6% decreased risk of eye disease, a 23% decreased risk of fatty liver disease, and an 11% decreased risk of chronic kidney disease. The updated guidelines now incorporate sleep health, highlighting its role in long-term health.
For a heart-healthy diet, it is recommended to focus on plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, and consume lean proteins such as fish. Adults should engage in 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity a week. Good sleep is defined as 7 to 9 hours a night for most adults, with specific guidelines for children and adolescents.
The new guidelines also emphasise the importance of standardized clinical measurements for the clinical factors and the use of these metrics to stratify risk in populations and guide interventions to prevent cardiovascular, metabolic, and kidney diseases. Higher LE8 scores have been associated with lower all-cause mortality and reduced risk of chronic diseases including cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory conditions.
However, ideal cardiovascular health is very rare, with less than 4% of people worldwide meeting the criteria. Nonetheless, small changes in lifestyle can have significant health benefits. For example, moving from obesity to overweight or adding any physical activity can improve overall health.
The AHA's guidelines for ideal cardiovascular health are known as Life's Simple 7. Life's Simple 7 includes not smoking, a nutritious diet, regular exercise, a healthy weight, optimal blood pressure, controlled blood sugar, and well-managed cholesterol. Maintaining ideal levels of at least three Life's Simple 7 metrics was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, even in individuals with a genetic predisposition.
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- The updated Life's Essential 8 (LE8) guidelines, like its predecessor Life's Simple 7, place a significant emphasis on nutrition, with a focus on plant-based foods, lean proteins, and maintaining a healthy weight.
- In the realm of women's health, the LE8 guidelines highlight the importance of adequate sleep, which is recognized for its crucial role in cardiovascular outcomes, as well as overall health benefits.
- By improving one's fitness-and-exercise and sleep health, individuals can expect health benefits such as reduced risks of dementia, eye disease, fatty liver disease, and chronic kidney disease, as per the findings from the Life's Simple 7 scale research.
