Taking care of your cardiovascular health may lower your cancer risk, even if you have a genetic predisposition to certain cancers. A prospective cohort study looked at data on 277,000 participants.
Researchers created a cardiovascular health score for each participant by comparing reported lifestyle and health data to the American Heart Association’s “Life’s Essential 8” metric of four health behaviors (diet, physical activity, smoking, and sleep) and four health factors (body mass index, lipid profile, and blood glucose and blood pressure levels). Participants with higher scores were considered to have better cardiovascular health.
Compared with low cardiovascular health scores, high cardiovascular health scores were associated with lower risk of cancer overall, including digestive system, lung, renal, bladder, breast, and endometrial cancers.
The researchers also looked for the presence of genetic markers associated with higher risk for 18 types of cancer. Even when these genetic markers were present, a higher cardiovascular health score was associated with lower risk of cancer. Specifically, good cardiovascular health habits were associated with lower risk of all cancers in the study except gastric, liver, and breast cancers regardless of level of genetic risk.
If you want to lower your risk of heart attack, stroke, and cancer, consume a healthy dietary pattern rich in plant foods and low in ultraprocessed foods, be as active as possible, limit exposure to tobacco products, get at least seven hours of quality sleep a night, and work with your healthcare provider to control your cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose, and weight.