Life’s Essential 8

The American Heart Association has updated a construct of cardiovascular health (CVH), Life’s Essential 8, including diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep health, body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, and blood pressure. Each metric has a new scoring algorithm ranging from 0 to 100 points, allowing generation of a new composite CVH score (the unweighted average of all components) that also varies from 0 to 100 points. The DASH- and Mediterranean-style eating patterns have been pursued as being most consistent with optimal CVH, with the former being more easily assessed at the population level and a modified Mediterranean Eating Pattern for Americans for individuals. Secondhand tobacco smoke exposure and use of inhaled nicotine-delivery systems (eg, e-cigarettes or vaping devices) have been added to the combustible cigarette use to reflect their adverse impact on health. Sleep duration as the current means for reflecting sleep health has been added to the construct of CVH. The metric for blood lipids has been updated to consider non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol as the metric of interest rather than total cholesterol. The metric for blood glucose has been expanded to include hemoglobin A1c measurement. However, improving CVH at the population level will require more than individual change. The foundational contexts of social determinants of health and psychological health has been addressed as crucial factors in optimizing and preserving CVH. Source: https://www.ahajournals.org/