Maintaining optimal cardiovascular health can significantly improve overall physical and psychological well-being, according to a review from Emory University researchers. The review synthesizes findings from nearly 500 peer-reviewed studies. It confirms that the benefits of heart-healthy behaviors extend far beyond the heart — positively impacting brain function, vision, hearing, muscle strength and even reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer and dementia.

“While we recently learned that heart health and brain health are closely tied, in this review we found that almost every organ system and bodily function from head-to-toe benefit from a heart-healthy lifestyle,” said Liliana Aguayo, PhD, MPH, research assistant professor at the Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing .

The review is the first of its kind to systematically examine how the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 metrics — which include not smoking, healthy eating, regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, and managing blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar — influence health outcomes across multiple organ systems. The updated Life’s Essential 8 also includes sleep as a key factor.

Researchers reviewed nearly 500 research studies published in the decade after Life’s Simple 7 was introduced that incorporated at least three of Life’s Simple 7 measures. Ideal cardiovascular health was defined as having six or seven of the metrics at high levels.

Among the key findings were that those with heart-healthy habits:

• Were more likely to maintain their brain and lung function, vision and hearing, and keep their teeth and muscle strength as they age.
• Experienced lower levels of cortisol and stress and lower frequencies of several chronic diseases, including cancer, COPD, pneumonia, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, and kidney and end-stage renal disease.
• Had a higher self-reported quality of life and a lower risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, sleep-disordered breathing, metabolic syndrome, erectile dysfunction, functional disability and mobility problems, and all-cause mortality.
• Experienced lower medical expenditures, health care utilization, and non-cardiovascular disease costs.

 “These findings confirm that healthy lifestyle metrics — eating well, exercising and not smoking — are key components to optimal health, in addition to maintaining healthy weight, normal blood pressure, and cholesterol blood sugar levels, which are the conventional risk factors for cardiovascular disease,” Aguayo said.

To download the study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, click here