Accumulating evidence implicates poor cardiovascular health in later life as a major risk factor for compromised brain health and eventual dementia. How early the association between cardiovascular and brain health begins to emerge, however, is unclear. In 2022, the American
Heart Association (AHA) created ‘Life’s Essential 8 (LE8)’ – a risk score aimed at quantifying ideal cardiovascular health behaviours within large populations in order to predict future disease. This risk score consists of eight modifiable factors known to influence cardiovascular
disease – namely body weight, physical activity, diet, sleep, smoking, total cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure – and has been shown to already associate with the subclinical development of early cardiovascular risk in from as early as childhood.