Mixed
Adherence to the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score is inversely associated with the risk of developing new-onset abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).
To lower your risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm, focus on optimizing your overall cardiovascular health using the Life's Essential 8 framework. This means aiming for ideal levels in blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and BMI, while never smoking, staying physically active, eating a healthy diet, and getting 7-9 hours of sleep. You don't need to be perfect; even small, consistent improvements in these areas can significantly reduce your risk over time. Prioritize quitting smoking and increasing physical activity, as these had the strongest individual effects in the study.
Higher LE8 score was associated with lower risk of AAA in the general population, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle to prevent AAA.
Why this rating
Large prospective cohort (n=279,251), long follow-up (median 12.77 years), robust statistical adjustment, and sensitivity analyses, though observational design limits causal inference.
Source
Association between life’s essential 8 score and the risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm: a prospective cohort study from UK Biobank data
Sixu Chen et al. · BMC Public Health · 2025
DOI 10.1186/s12889-025-22758-5
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