Research

Mixed

Adhering to the American Heart Association's Ideal Cardiovascular Health (CVH) score (non-smoking, ideal BMI, regular physical activity, healthy diet, optimal cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose) is inversely associated with the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Adopt the AHA's 7 metrics for cardiovascular health: do not smoke, maintain an ideal body mass index, engage in regular physical activity, eat a healthy diet, and keep your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood glucose in optimal ranges. You do not need to be perfect in all areas to benefit; each improvement lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease. The study shows a linear benefit, meaning even small improvements in these areas contribute to a lower incidence of heart disease and stroke over time.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The incidence of CVD (267 events over 16 years) was inversely associated with the CVH score in age-, sex-adjusted models (Hazards ratio [HR] 0.77 per unit-increase in CVH score, 95% CI 0.70, 0.86)...
Vanessa Xanthakis et al. · Circulation · 2014

Why this rating

Large prospective community-based cohort (Framingham Offspring Study, n=2680 for biomarkers, n=1826 for incidence) with long follow-up (16 years).

Source

Ideal Cardiovascular Health

Vanessa Xanthakis et al. · Circulation · 2014

DOI 10.1161/circulationaha.114.009273

cohort · n=2680Cited 288×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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