Life's Essential Eight Adds One Important Indicator of Cardiovascular Health

Cardiovascular disease is the most significant cause of death on a global scale.

According to the Association’s 2022 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update, about 121.5 million people in the U.S. have high blood pressure.

More than one million have obesity, and twenty-eight million have type two diabetes.

Shockingly, only one in four adults achieves the recommended daily physical activity.

These guidelines are set in place by the U.S. Department for Americans.

It seems like most of the advice and statistics are being ignored.

Many studies over the years say that 80 per cent of all cardiovascular events may be prevented by a healthy lifestyle and management of known cardiovascular risk factors.

It’s a simple idea, yet not enough people take this plan’s simplicity seriously.

American Heart Association’s checklist is called Life’s Essential Eight. The checklist helps to define ways to measure your cardiovascular health.

But a critical component was missing, which is now included in the importance of maintaining adequate cardiovascular health.

This new metric is based on sleep duration and reflects the latest sleep research — and how that can impact our health.

People with healthier sleeping habits manage health factors such as weight control, blood pressure, and the risk of type two diabetes.

These are the most important factors we all need to control now and throughout our lives.

Wearable devices make it easy to measure sleeping habits in the comfort of their home — rather than in a research lab.

After over twelve years of study, 2,400 scientific papers discovered heart and brain health to measure cardiovascular health. They provided an excellent opportunity to revisit each health component in more detail.

“Life’s Essential 8” elements of cardiovascular health are divided into two significant areas health behaviours and factors.

Health behaviours include diet, exercise or activity, smoking habits, and sleep.

Health factors include cholesterol & blood sugar levels and blood pressure.

Having a cardiovascular goal in mind helps one work towards it throughout their lifetime.

Here is another breakdown of the Essential eight principles

One Diet

The Mediterranean diet is a starting point

It involves a high intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, whole grains and low-fat dairy.

There is also a low level of sodium.

Two: A decent amount of physical activity

One hundred fifty minutes of moderate physical activity or more per week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity for adults is recommended.

Four hundred twenty minutes per week for children ages six and older.

Age-specific exercise modifications might be necessary.

Three: Nicotine exposure

Nicotine also refers to e-cigarettes and the effect they have on our youth — as well as adults.

Inhaling smoke (even passive smoke) poses health risks, perhaps not now but in the future.

If you can avoid smoking, then I encourage you to put an end to both alternatives.

Four: Get enough sleep

Sleep is now associated with cardiovascular health.

You should have 7–9 hours (adults) per night per 24.

Ages 5 and younger should have 10–16 hours

Ages 6–12 should have 9–12 hours and

Ages 13–18 need 8–10 hours.

Five: BMI

A BMI range of 18.5–24.9 is classified as having the highest level of cardiovascular health.

A healthy BMI requires vigilance with your food intake and activity levels over the long term.

Six: Blood lipids

The metric for blood lipids uses non-HDL cholesterol as the preferred number to monitor rather than total cholesterol, and HDL is the “good” cholesterol.

Seven: Blood glucose

An expansion of options to include haemoglobin A1c reading or blood glucose levels for those without type one or type two diabetes or pre-diabetes, Haemoglobin A1c can better reflect long-term glycemic control.

Eight: Blood pressure

The association’s guidelines indicate that less than 120/80 mm Hg is a good range, and a hypertension rate is within 130–139 mm Hg systolic pressure or 80–89 mm Hg diastolic.

All eight essential components provide a sound basis for identifying when cardiovascular health can be preserved when sub-optimal.

These baseline indications will help improve cardiovascular health for all people during each stage of life.

Please feel free to use this as a cardiovascular health indicator and speak with your doctor if you have any concerns.

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