The American Heart Association updated its “Life’s Simple 7” measurement tool for cardiovascular health to “Life’s Essential 8,” which now includes sleep health metrics.
Other changes include metrics for how diet and blood sugar are calculated, replacing cigarette smoking with nicotine exposure to capture vaping, and replacing total cholesterol with non-HDL cholesterol. It was the top story in cardiology last week.
Another top story was on a presentation from the Heart in Diabetes CME conference about how coronary artery calcium scoring can be useful in deciding whether patients aged 40 years or older should begin therapy for primary CVD prevention. Matthew Budoff, MD, FACC, FAHA, endowed chair of preventive cardiology, professor of medicine and director of cardiac CT at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, said this scoring is useful for intermediate-risk patients, as well as patients being considered for nonstatin therapy.
Read these and more top stories in cardiology below:
AHA: Updated ‘Life’s Essential 8’ scoring shows most Americans have suboptimal CV health
An updated American Heart Association checklist that now includes sleep health metrics showed about 80% of U.S. adults have low to moderate cardiovascular health, with lowest scores occurring in the areas of diet, physical activity and BMI. Read more.
CAC scoring valuable, can help decide CVD prevention strategies
Coronary artery calcium scoring is a helpful tool in patients aged 40 years or older whom a decision to start therapy for primary CVD prevention is not obvious, a speaker said at the Heart in Diabetes CME conference. Read more.
Biological age linked with risk for all-cause, CV death, especially in cancer survivors
High biological age was significantly associated with both all-cause and CVD mortality, especially among cancer survivors, according to new data published in JAMA Network Open. Read more.
CV complications of COVID-19 vary widely; patients with HF at high risk
The cardiovascular complications of COVID-19 are wide-ranging, and the consequences can be especially serious in patients with heart failure, a speaker said at the Heart in Diabetes CME conference. Read more.
VIDEO: Joseph discusses AHA statement on managing CV risk in type 2 diabetes care
In this Healio video exclusive, Joshua J. Joseph, MD, MPH, FAHA, discussed the recent American Heart Association scientific statement on health equity in managing cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes. Watch more.
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