Having more of seven heart-healthy behaviors translates to a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, but few people meet all of them, researchers found. In a prospective study, those who met three to four of the American Heart Association's 'Simple Seven' heart-health criteria had a 55% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality than those who met no more than two of those practices over about 11 years, Enrique Artero, PhD, of the University of South Carolina, and colleagues reported in the October issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings…In an accompanying commentary, Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., criticized the AHA Simple Seven initiative, fingering some of its "shortcomings."

MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore

Tags: american heart association, Cardiology, cardiovascular disease, Dr. Enrique Artero, Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic Rochester, MedPage Today, Research, Simple Seven initiative, University of South Carolina