CHARLESTON, W.Va. Only 1 in 5 people in the United States have optimal heart health, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
The disclosed data comes from the Circulation Journal: New Life‘s Essential 8. Life’s Essential 8 is an updated guideline for measuring cardiovascular health, adding healthy sleep as essential for ideal heart and brain health to Life’s Simple 7.
Life’s Essential 8 metrics are included in the AHA My Life Check tool to determine your cardiovascular health score based on eight essential elements for ideal heart and brain health: diet, exercise, nicotine exposure, sleep time, body mass index, lipids in the blood, blood glucose and blood pressure.
Amy Hannah, executive director of the Family Resource Network in Mingo County, told MetroNews that she had suffered a heart attack herself, understands that extra rest means a healthier person.
“I can see how good sleep is essential to our overall health. For our heart, brain and mental health, ”said Hannah.
As part of the adult report, overall cardiovascular health is calculated for each individual by adding the scores for each of the 8 indicators together and dividing the sum by 8 to get a Life’s Essential 8 score ranging from 0 to 100. So the highest or healthiest score possible cardiovascular health is 100. Overall scores below 50 indicate “low” cardiovascular health, 50-79 is considered “moderate,” and scores of 80 and above indicate “high” cardiovascular health, the AHA said.
According to this first study, which used Life’s Essential 8 as a measure of cardiovascular health, among more than 23,400 US adults and children without cardiovascular disease, overall cardiovascular health in the US population is well below ideal, with 80% of adults scores low to medium. Researchers assessed health information from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination between 2013 and 2018, which included more than 13,500 adults (ages 20-79) and nearly 9,900 children (ages 2 to 19).
– Life’s Essential 8 ™ was compatible with Life’s Simple 7 ™, however was more sensitive to differences in cardiovascular health between groups of people and individuals.
– The mean cardiovascular health rating based on Life’s Essential 8 ™ was 64.7 for US adults and 65.5 for US children. The average of the children took into account the modifications of the indicators in the diet, physical activity and BMI for children aged 2 to 19, depending on the age.
– Only 0.45% of adults earned 100 points on Life’s Essential 8 ™.
– 19.6% of US adults had high cardiovascular health; 62.5% moderate; and 17.9% low.
Adult women had a higher mean cardiovascular health score of 67 compared to men, with a score of 62.5.
Overall, US adults scored the lowest on diet, exercise, and BMI.
– Cardiovascular health outcomes were generally lower in old age.
Hannah said other important steps are finding a good healthcare professional so that the patient can have an open relationship to set goals for themselves.
Hannah also added that a person should not wait for something to happen in order to take action on heart health.
“If you do the annual screening tests and focus on these eight things, you can stay healthy, thus preventing a serious heart attack in the future,” she said.
