A new analysis of long-term data from the Women’s Health Initiative found that higher scores on Life’s Essential 8 (LE8) were associated with substantially lower rates of type 2 diabetes among postmenopausal women. The authors note that while high sugar intake is often linked to diabetes, other factors such as body weight, physical activity and smoking also influence risk, and improving cardiovascular health can help even later in life.
Researchers analyzed health records for 19,403 participants collected between 1993 and 2024 and followed women for an average of 16 years. They combined self-reported habits (for example, sleep and tobacco use) with laboratory markers for blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure, and scored participants from 0 to 100. The team also ran a larger analysis of five lifestyle factors (LE5) in a group of 99,269 women.
- Diet and exercise
- Sleep, tobacco use and body weight (BMI)
- Cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure
In the LE8 analysis, 20% of women developed type 2 diabetes and those in the highest LE8 category had a 57% lower risk than women in the lowest category. In the LE5 analysis, 17.7% developed diabetes and the highest group had a 40% lower risk. Among LE8 components, blood sugar and BMI showed the strongest links to diabetes; the benefits were largest for women younger than 60 and were greater for Hispanic women. Women with a waist measurement equal to or less than 31.5 inches had the lowest risk among high scorers. The lead author said the next steps are to study how LE8 can be used in clinical and public health settings and to test whether interventions that improve LE8 lower diabetes risk in real-world settings. Source: New York University.
Difficult words
- postmenopausal — After a woman has stopped having menstrual periods.
- cardiovascular — Related to the heart and blood vessels.
- self-report — To give information about oneself in a survey.self-reported
- laboratory — Work done in a medical test setting.
- associate — To link things as related or connected.associated
- intervention — An action or program to improve health.interventions
- component — One part of a larger system or score.components
- body weight — The mass of a person's body measured in kilograms.
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Which LE8 components would you prioritise in a diabetes prevention program for postmenopausal women, and why?
- What challenges might health services face when trying to measure and improve LE8 scores in real-world settings?
- How could the finding that benefits were larger for women younger than 60 and for Hispanic women influence public health planning?
