Research
Mixed
Maintaining high cardiovascular health (defined by the AHA's Life's Simple 7 metrics: smoking status, physical activity, weight, diet, blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure) is associated with a significant reduction in major cardiovascular disease events, with 70% of events attributable to low/moderate health and 2 million events potentially preventable annually if all US adults attained high health.
Focus on the 'Life's Simple 7': stop smoking, stay active, maintain a healthy weight, eat a heart-healthy diet, and keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar in check. You don't need to be perfect; moving from poor to moderate health on these metrics significantly lowers your risk of heart disease and stroke.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
A report pooled NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) 2011 to 2016 data and individual-level data from 7 US community-based cohort studies and estimated that 70.0% of major CVD events in the United States were attributable to low and moderate CVH; 2.0 million major CVD events could potentially be prevented each year if all US adults attain high CVH
Why this rating
Based on pooled NHANES and 7 cohort studies, representing high-quality observational evidence, though not an RCT.
Source
Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2022 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association
Connie W. Tsao et al. · Circulation · 2022
narrative_reviewCited 5,997×
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