Roundup: Benefits of Improving Heart Health at Midlife; CDC Adds COVID-19 Vaccine to Immunization Schedules for Kids and Adults; and More News

Improving Heart Health at Midlife Can Reduce Your Future Risk of Stroke, Dementia, Researchers Find

Improving your heart health at midlife and beyond -- through proper nutrition, regular exercise, weight management, and other preventive measures -- is associated with a lower risk of stroke and dementia risk factors about two decades later, according to preliminary research findings presented this week at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in Dallas. The full results are yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

"Even small improvements can actually have an effect," said lead author Sanaz Sedaghat, an assistant professor in the division of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, in a statement published by the American Heart Association (AHA) in a news release.

Many previous studies have found that risk factors contributing to heart disease – such as being overweight or obese. not being physically active or having high blood pressure – also fuel cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke and dementia. However, there is less research data about how changes in cardiovascular health -- at midlife and later -- may affect a person's risk for cerebrovascular disease as they get older.

In the new study, researchers used health data for 1,638 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, collected twice in midlife (at average ages of 53 and 59) and once in late life (at an average age of 76).

“At each visit, cardiovascular health scores were calculated using the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7, a collection of behaviors and factors that greatly affect heart and brain health,” states the AHA. “These include diet, physical activity, weight, tobacco use, cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose levels. The data was collected before AHA added sleep as a major determinant of cardiovascular health in 2022, changing the name to Life's Essential 8.”

Participants received up to 2 points for each of the seven items, based on whether their adherence to target goals for each item was poor, intermediate or ideal. During the late-life visit, brain scans identified markers of cerebrovascular disease, which signal a greater risk for stroke or dementia.

Participants who had higher cardiovascular health scores in midlife and late life, or whose scores increased from midlife to late life, had a lower prevalence of cerebrovascular disease markers. Every one-point increase in the score reduced the overall risk for cerebrovascular damage by roughly 7 percent, the AHA said.

CDC Formally Adds COVID-19 Vaccines to Its Immunization Schedules for Children, Adolescents and Adults

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added COVID-19 vaccinations for children, adolescents and adults to its immunization schedule based on current recommendations from expert advisors. The updates formally adds the COVID shots to existing guidance for healthcare providers and schools.

The CDC does not establish vaccine requirements for schools or workplaces. States and local governments determine which vaccines schools require for students

The proposed changes were recommended by the CDC’s vaccine advisers, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices or ACIP, and signed off on by the CDC, which consults with physicians, nurses and pharmacists on recommendations.

About 85 percent of adults in the U.S. have completed their two-shot primary COVID-19 vaccination series, according to the CDC. But only a third have received a bivalent booster, which were developed to target both the initial strain of the virus and the original Omicron variant.

About one-third of children 6 months to 17 years old have completed their primary COVID vaccination series, but more than 90 percent of children 6 months to 4 years of age have not received a single shot. A lag in routine vaccinations for children that began during the pandemic – including the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) shots — has been concerning and may result in vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks, public health officials have warned.

The new guidance states that an additional booster of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is necessary in the case of a mumps outbreak. Additionally, the new recommendations approve the use of an additional poliovirus vaccine if new cases emerge, such as what occurred last year in New York City.

The CDC immunizations schedules for children and adolescents are found here. The CDC schedule for adult immunizations is here.

“ACIP’s recommendations for the use of each vaccine are developed after in-depth reviews of vaccine-related data, including disease epidemiology and societal impacts, vaccine efficacy and effectiveness, vaccine safety, quality of evidence, feasibility of program implementation, and economic analyses of immunization policy,” states the CDC.

Researchers: Being Obese or Overweight Reduces Benefits of Vitamin D Supplements

People who are overweight or obese show less effectiveness -- or “a blunted response” – from vitamin D supplements, compared with individuals with a normal BMI (body mass index), according to a new analysis of a randomized trial by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system.

That’s because vitamin D may be metabolized differently in people with an elevated BMI, concludes the study, which was published in JAMA Network Open.

Vitamin D helps the body absorb and retain calcium and phosphorus, both of which are critical for building bones. Also, laboratory studies show that vitamin D can reduce cancer cell growth, help control infections and reduce inflammation.

Ultraviolet light from the sun helps people form vitamin D in the skin. While some of the vitamin D we need is made in the body from sunlight, vitamin D deficiencies are often treated with supplementation.

Researchers utilized data from the existing VITAL trial, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 25,871 U.S. participants, which included men over the age of 50 and women over the age of 55. All participants were free of cancer and cardiovascular disease at the time of enrollment.

The researchers found that vitamin D supplementation “increased most of the biomarkers” associated with vitamin D metabolism in people, regardless of their weight. “However, these increases were significantly smaller in people with elevated BMIs,” states a news release from Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

A BMI configures a status number (18.5-24.9 considered “normal”) using your height and weight.

“The analysis of the original VITAL data found that vitamin D supplementation correlated with positive effects on several health outcomes, but only among people with a BMI under 25,” said first author Deirdre K. Tobias, Sc.D., an associate epidemiologist in Brigham’s Division of Preventive Medicine. “There seems to be something different happening with vitamin D metabolism at higher body weights, and this study may help explain diminished outcomes of supplementation for individuals with an elevated BMI.”

Related article: Figuring Your Ideal Weight - And Why That's Important