Reports

How to extend life by 8 years: Study

• By Newsdesk
• Armenia
• Apr 05, 2023

Reports

The American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 (LE8) cardiovascular health scoring has been shown to predict longer life, free of chronic diseases. Preliminary studies will be presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2023, held in Boston from February 28-March 3, 2023.

The American Heart Association updated its guidelines for optimal cardiovascular health in June 2022. The new tool measures 4 indicators related to cardiovascular and metabolic health status (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and body mass index); and 4 behavioral/lifestyle factors (smoking status, physical activity, sleep and diet).

When researchers followed a cohort of people over time, they found that those who scored high on the Association’s Life’s Essential 8 metrics lived longer than those who scored low. Men and women with ideal cardiovascular health at age 50 had an average 5.2 years and 6.3 years more of total life expectancy, respectively, when compared to the men and women who scored as having poor cardiovascular health. Disease-free life expectancy accounted for nearly 76% of total life expectancy for men and more than 83% for women who had ideal cardiovascular health--compared to 64.9% for men and 69.4% for women who scored as having poor cardiovascular health.

A second study examined whether the association of Life's Essential 8 with total life expectancy differs by sex or race in U.S. adults. The researchers analyzed health information, including Life’s Essential 8 scores, for more than 23,000 U.S. adults who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2005 to 2018. They found that adults with ideal cardiovascular health gained an estimated 8.1 years (7.5 additional years for men and 8.9 for women) of life expectancy at age 50, compared with those in the poor cardiovascular health category. 

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that adults with ideal cardiovascular health gain an additional 33.4 years of life expectancy, compared to those in poor cardiovascular health.