NEW research suggests that adhering to the Life’s Essential 8, a comprehensive framework for cardiovascular health, may also protect against chronic lower respiratory diseases and enhance lung function. Chronic lower respiratory diseases, including asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and COPD, affect millions of adults globally and remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality.
Life’s Essential 8 and Respiratory Survival
In a population-based study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2007 and 2018, researchers analysed over 10,000 adults aged 20–79 years. Lung function measurements were available for a subset of 3,188 participants, allowing detailed assessment of respiratory outcomes alongside Life’s Essential 8 scores. Life’s Essential 8 encompasses a set of eight modifiable health behaviours and clinical metrics, including diet quality, physical activity, tobacco exposure, sleep health, body weight, blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol.
Reduced Risk of Respiratory Death
During a median follow-up of nearly 8 years, 50 deaths specifically due to chronic lower respiratory disease were recorded. Participants with higher Life’s Essential 8 scores had a 44% lower risk of respiratory-specific mortality compared with those with lower scores, even after adjusting for age, sex, race, income, education, cardiovascular disease, other respiratory conditions, and smoking history.
The relationship between Life’s Essential 8 scores and mortality followed a linear pattern, suggesting that incremental improvements in lifestyle factors could confer meaningful reductions in risk.
Improved Lung Health Across Conditions
Higher Life’s Essential 8 scores were consistently associated with lower odds of multiple chronic lung conditions. Each 10-point increase in the total score corresponded to a 12% reduction in asthma risk, 19% lower odds of chronic bronchitis, 41% lower odds of emphysema, and a 37% lower likelihood of COPD. Positive correlations were also observed with objective lung function measures, including reduced risk of restrictive spirometry patterns. The results were robust across sensitivity analyses and key demographic subgroups, highlighting the generalisable impact of lifestyle factors on lung health.
Promoting adherence to Life’s Essential 8 could significantly reduce the burden of chronic respiratory diseases and lower mortality, reinforcing the interplay between cardiovascular and respiratory health.
This study shows the potential of lifestyle-focused interventions in adult populations, offering a practical avenue for clinicians and public health programmes to enhance both heart and lung health simultaneously.
Reference
Wu Y et al. Association of life’s essential 8 with chronic respiratory disease mortality and lung health: a national cohort study. BMJ Open Respir Res. 2026;13(1):e003254.
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