Reaching the ideal cardiovascular health: is this the key to preventing multiple long-term conditions?

Multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs) or multimorbidity, has become a major health problem globally due to an ageing population.1,2 However, the increased prevalence of chronic conditions is not only due to an ageing population but also due to a combination of rising prevalence of obesity and a shift to unhealthy lifestyle behaviours in recent decades.3 Therefore, targeting patient lifestyle behaviours could significantly help to prevent and reduce the current epidemic of MLTCs. The American Heart Association launched the concept of the ideal ‘cardiovascular health’ measured using Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) and Life’s Essential 8 (LE8), Fig. 1. 4 Previous studies have demonstrated the associations between higher cardiovascular health and lower risk of single chronic conditions, and MLTCs in two studies.5,6 Yet, to date, there has not been a study exploring the association of the change in cardiovascular health and the risk of developing MLTCs.