Adherence to Life's Essential 8 is associated with delayed biological aging: a population-based cross-sectional study

Hongyu Chen; Haoxian Tang; Xuan Zhang; Jingtao Huang; Nan Luo; Qingqian Guo; Xin Wang

doi:10.1016/j.rec.2024.04.004

Adherence to Life's Essential 8 is associated with delayed biological aging: a population-based cross-sectional study

Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed). 2024 Apr 23:S1885-5857(24)00142-7. doi: 10.1016/j.rec.2024.04.004. Online ahead of print.

[Article in English, Spanish]

Authors

Hongyu Chen¹, Haoxian Tang², Xuan Zhang³, Jingtao Huang⁴, Nan Luo⁵, Qingqian Guo¹, Xin Wang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China.
² Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China; Department of Clinical Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China.
³ Department of Clinical Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China; Department of Bone & Joint Surgery, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
⁴ Department of Clinical Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China; Department of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
⁵ Department of Clinical Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China; Department of Psychiatry, Shantou University Mental Health Center, Shantou, China.
⁶ Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. Electronic address: Stxinwang@163.com.

PMID: 38663840
DOI: 10.1016/j.rec.2024.04.004

Abstract

Introduction and objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the potential of adhering to the American Heart Association's updated Life's Essential 8 (LE8) scores in delaying biological aging amid growing concerns about aging populations and related diseases.

Methods: A total of 18 261 adults (≥ 20 years old) were examined using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2005-2010 and 2015-2018. The LE8 includes 8 components, covering health behaviors and factors. Acceleration of biological aging was defined as an excess of biological/phenotypic age over chronological age, assessed by using clinical biomarkers. The association between LE8 score and biological aging was explored through regression analyses.

Results: Each 10-point increase in LE8 scores was associated with a 1.19-year decrease in biological age and a 1.63-year decrease in phenotypic age. Individuals with high cardiovascular health (CVH) had a 90% reduction in their risk of accelerated aging based on biological age and an 81% reduction based on phenotypic age compared with individuals with low CVH. Bootstrap-based model estimates and weighted quantile sum regression suggested that health factors, particularly blood glucose, had strong impact on delaying aging. The association between smoking and biological aging seemed to differ depending on the definition of aging used. Among all subgroups, LE8 consistently correlated negatively with biological aging, despite observed interactions. Three sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of our conclusions.

Conclusions: A higher CVH is associated with a lower risk of biological aging. Maintaining elevated LE8 levels across demographics, regardless of cardiovascular history, is recommended to delay aging and promote healthy aging, with significant implications for primary health care.

Keywords: Biological aging; Cardiovascular health; Cardiovascular system; Envejecimiento biológico; Envejecimiento saludable; Factores de riesgo de enfermedades cardiacas; Healthy aging; Heart disease risk factors; Life’s Essential 8; NHANES; Salud cardiovascular; Sistema cardiovascular.