Association of Cardiovascular Health with Cognitive Function in US Older Adults: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Promoting cardiovascular health (CVH) by Life's Simple 7 is associated with better cognitive function. In 2022, the American Heart Association (AHA) prompted Life's Essential 8 (LE8) to strengthen CVH assessment. This study investigated the association between the new CVH metrics assessed by LE8 and cognitive function, thus providing evidence for implementing LE8 in the primordial prevention of cognitive impairment. 2,050 participants aged 60 and older from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2014 were included. Cognitive function was measured by the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), the Animal Fluency Test (AFT), and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). The overall and domain-specific cognitive function z-score was created. CVH score was calculated following AHA's advisory. The multivariable linear regression model estimated the associations. The CVH score assessed by LE8 was independently, positively, and linearly associated with the overall cognitive function. A per-10 point increase in CVH was associated with higher overall cognitive z-scores (β, 0.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.03, 0.09), and participants with moderate (β, -0.14; 95% CI, -0.22, -0.05) and low CVH (β, -0.27; 95% CI, -0.37, -0.16) had lower overall cognitive z-scores compared to participants with high CVH. Similar patterns of associations were observed between CVH of AFT and DSST. Components of CVH were further associated with different domain-specific cognitive functions. Maintaining an ideal CVH improves cognitive function in older adults. Ideal adherence to individual components of LE8 was associated with improved overall and domain-specific cognitive functions. Therefore, promoting CVH according to LE8 might benefit cognitive function in the elderly.

Shen R ，Guo X ，Zou T ，Ma L ... -  《-》

Association between Life's Essential 8 and cognitive function among older adults in the United States.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recently redefined cardiovascular health (CVH) with the introduction of Life's Essential 8 (LE8), which encompasses eight areas (diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep duration body mass index, non-HDL cholesterol, blood glucose, and blood pressure). This study aimed to explore the relationships between both the aggregate and individual CVH metrics, as defined by Life's Essential 8, and cognitive function in older adults in the United States. This cross-sectional, population-based study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 2011 and 2014, focusing on individuals aged 60 years and older. CVH was categorized as low (0-49), moderate (50-79), or high (80-100). Cognitive function was assessed through the CERAD tests, Animal Fluency test, and Digit Symbol Substitution test. Multivariable logistic models and restricted cubic spline models were employed to investigate these associations. This study included a total of 2279 older adults in the United States. Only 11% of adults achieved a high total CVH score, while 12% had a low score. After further adjustment for potential confounding factors, higher LE8 scores were significantly associated with higher scores on CERAD: delayed recall score (0.02[0.01, 0.03]; P < 0.001), CERAD: total score (3 recall trials) (0.04[0.02, 0.06]; P < 0.001), animal fluency: total score (0.09[0.05, 0.12]; P < 0.001), and digit symbol: score (0.29[0.18, 0.41]; P < 0.001), demonstrating a linear dose-response relationship. Similar patterns were also observed in the associations between health behavior and health factor scores with cognitive function tests. LE8 scores exhibited positive linear associations with cognitive function. Maintaining better levels of CVH may be associated with higher levels of cognitive function in older Americans, but further research is needed to confirm the causal and temporal relationships between LE8 and cognitive function.

Zhu H ，Hei B ，Zhou W ，Tan J ，Zeng Y ，Li M ，Liu Z ... -  《Scientific Reports》

Association between Life's Essential 8 and cognitive function: insights from NHANES 2011-2014.

Life's Essential 8 (LE8) is prompted by the American Heart Association (AHA) to assess cardiovascular health. The association between LE8 and cognitive function in America is unknown. Our study was to investigate the association of LE8 with cognitive function in general adults. A total of 2,301 participants were enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). LE8 scores (range 0-100) were obtained from measurements based on American Heart Association definitions, divided into health behavior and health factor scores. Cognitive function was assessed by three tests including the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), Animal fluency test (AFT), and Digit Symbol Substitution test (DSST). The multivariable linear regression analysis explored the associations between LE8 and cognitive function. Smooth curve fitting was explored using restricted cubic splines. The inflection point was determined by the two-piecewise linear regression. In the multivariable linear regression model with full adjustment for confounding variables, AFT scores were 1.2 points higher in participants with LE8 scores >80 than in those with LE8 scores <50 (high LE8 score group: β = 1.20, 95% CI 0.37, 2.03), and 3.32 points higher in DSST (high LE8 score group: β = 3.32, 95% CI 1.24, 5.39). Although high LE8 scores show a Negative association with high CERAD, we found a significant association between higher LE8 scores and higher CERAD when LE8 scores were higher than 82.5 (β = 0.21 95%CI 0.04, 0.39, p-value = 0.0179). Our study highlighted a positive association between Life's Essential 8 and cognitive function in older adults.

Liang K ，Zhang X 《Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience》

Comparison of the associations between Life's Essential 8 and Life's Simple 7 with depression, as well as the mediating role of oxidative stress factors and inflammation: NHANES 2005-2018.

Cardiovascular health (CVH) is closely associated with depression. However, Life's Essential 8 (LE8), a novel CVH measure, has not yet been clearly linked to depression. This study aims to explore the association between LE8 and depression, compare its advantages over Life's Simple 7 (LS7), and investigate the mediating effects of oxidative stress and inflammation. This study investigated cross-sectional data of adults aged 20 and above from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005 to 2018. The LE8 score (ranging from 0 to 100) was derived from the American Heart Association's definition, based on the unweighted average of 8 metrics, classified as low cardiovascular health (CVH) (0-49), moderate CVH (50-79), and high CVH (80-100). Similar to LE8, LS7 scores were categorized into inadequate (0-7), average (8-10), or optimal (11-14) after calculating the unweighted mean of each component. Depression was diagnosed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), with a score of ≥10 defining depression. Adjusted for sociodemographic factors and other risk factors for depression, weighted logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analysis were used to explore the correlation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to study the associations between CVH scores and depression. Subsequently, subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were conducted, followed by an exploration of the mechanisms involved. A total of 7 cycles from 2005 to 2018 contained complete data. Weighted logistic regression showed that both LS7 and LE8 were significantly associated with depression. Specifically, for LE8, after adjustment, the risk of depression decreased by 52 % for moderate CVH compared to low CVH (OR: 0.48, 95 % CI: 0.41-0.57, P < 0.0001), while the risk decreased by 80 % for high CVH (OR: 0.20, 95 % CI: 0.15-0.26, P < 0.0001, Ptrend < 0.0001). For LS7, after adjustment, compared with inadequate CVH, the risk of depression decreased by 49 % for average CVH (OR: 0.51, 95 % CI: 0.34-0.78, P = 0.002), and by 55 % for optimal CVH (OR: 0.45, 95 % CI: 0.27-0.74, P = 0.002, Ptrend < 0.0001). Area under ROC curves for predicting depression were 0.672 (95 % CI, 0.66-0.684; P < 0.001) and 0.605 (95 % CI, 0.59-0.619; P < 0.001) for LE8 and LS7 (PDeLong < 0.001), respectively. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated the robustness of the association. GGT and WBC jointly mediated 9.62 % of this association (all P < 0.001). The cross-sectional study cannot infer causality. The association between Life's Essential 8 and depression was stronger and more practical. Oxidative stress and inflammation mediate this association. Individuals with extremely poor cardiovascular health have a 7-fold increased risk of depression, highlighting the necessity of maintaining at least moderate cardiovascular health.

Li L ，Dai F 《-》

Adherence to Life's Simple 7 and Cognitive Function Among Older Adults: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011 to 2014.

Wei J ，Wang L ，Kulshreshtha A ，Xu H ... -  《Journal of the American Heart Association》