The components of Life’s Essential 8 include diet (updated), physical activity, nicotine exposure (updated), sleep health (new), body mass index, blood lipids (updated), blood glucose (updated), and blood pressure.

This presidential advisory introduces an enhanced approach to assessing cardiovascular health: Life’s Essential 8. The foundational contexts of social determinants of health and psychological health were addressed as crucial factors in optimizing and preserving cardiovascular health. New metrics were considered, and the age spectrum was expanded to include the entire life course. The definition and quantification of each of the original metrics (Life’s Simple 7) were evaluated for responsiveness to interindividual variation and intraindividual change. In response, the American Heart Association convened a writing group to recommend enhancements and updates. Extensive subsequent evidence has provided insights into strengths and limitations of the original approach to defining and quantifying cardiovascular health. In 2010, the American Heart Association defined a novel construct of cardiovascular health to promote a paradigm shift from a focus solely on disease treatment to one inclusive of positive health promotion and preservation across the life course in populations and individuals.

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Stroke: Vascular and Interventional Neurology.

Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA).

Circ: Cardiovascular Quality & Outcomes.

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB).

Quan the heart principle