In New High Blood Pressure, More Healthy Habits Went With Lower Heart Risk

CATEGORY: HEART & CIRCULATION

Adults newly diagnosed with high blood pressure who kept up four or more everyday heart-healthy habits had a 17% lower 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease—problems affecting the heart and blood vessels, such as heart attack, stroke and heart failure—than people with normal blood pressure, a large study found. Those with almost none of these habits had a 53% higher risk. Because habits were not assigned, the findings show associations, not proof of cause and effect.¹

29,597 Chinese Adults Matched and Followed 10 Years

Researchers used the Kailuan study in China, identifying 29,597 adults at the moment they were first found to have high blood pressure—a persistent reading at or above the level doctors use to diagnose hypertension. Each was matched to a person of the same age and sex who had normal blood pressure, and both groups were followed for about 10 years. Heart attacks, strokes and heart-failure hospitalizations were confirmed through medical records, insurance databases and a review committee rather than self-report.¹ Overall, 10-year cardiovascular risk was 8.97% in the new hypertension group versus 6.31% among the matched adults with normal blood pressure.¹

Eight Measures Known as Life’s Essential 8

Each person was scored on eight everyday measures known as Life’s Essential 8: diet, physical activity, avoiding tobacco, sleep, body weight, blood cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure. The researchers counted how many fell in a healthy range, then compared cardiovascular disease rates by that count.¹

Zero or One Habit Carried 53% Higher Risk

Compared with people who had normal blood pressure, adults with new high blood pressure and only zero or one healthy habit had a 53% higher risk of cardiovascular disease. The gap shrank as habits added up: two habits carried a 25% higher risk, three habits brought risk roughly in line with the normal-pressure group, and four or more was linked to a 17% lower risk. In other words, stacking up healthy habits appeared to offset—and even reverse—the extra risk that usually comes with high blood pressure.

Habits Traveled With Lower Risk, Not Proven Cause

This was an observational study, so it shows that these habits travel together with lower risk, not that they directly cause it, and results from one large cohort may not apply to everyone. High blood pressure remains an important risk factor for the heart. What the study adds is encouraging: these everyday factors were linked to markedly different heart outcomes even after a new hypertension diagnosis.

36% Lower Cardiovascular Death Risk in 15,318 Adults

A review pooling 34 studies of about 1.8 million adults found people with the highest Life’s Essential 8 scores had a 53% lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those with the lowest.² In 15,318 U.S. adults with high blood pressure, the top third of scores was linked to a 36% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease over about six years.³ Both are observational, so they show associations, not proof of cause.

Key Takeaways

• In nearly 30,000 adults with new high blood pressure, keeping four or more healthy habits was linked to a 17% lower 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease than having normal blood pressure—while having almost none was linked to a 53% higher risk.
• The eight habits were diet, physical activity, avoiding tobacco, sleep, weight, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure.
• This is observational research, so it shows an association, not proof of cause and effect.

References

1. Wu S, Wang Y, Wang J, Feng J, Li F, Lin L, Ruan C, Nie Z, Tian J, Jin C. Modifiable factors and 10-year and lifetime cardiovascular disease risk in adults with new-onset hypertension: insights from the Kailuan cohort. BMC Medicine. 2025;23(1):80. link
2. Sebastian SA, Shah Y, Paul H, et al. Life’s Essential 8 and the risk of cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 2025;32(5):358–373. link.
3. Zhao M, Yu H, He S, et al. Association of Life’s Essential 8 score with risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease-related mortality in individuals with hypertension. BMC Cardiovascular Disorders. 2024;24(1):465. link.