Want to know your heart’s age? It might be older than you think, and knowing that can help trigger lifestyle changes that rejuvenate your heart and, with it, your overall health.
Researchers from Northwestern Medicine in Chicago developed a heart age calculator to help people better understand their cardiovascular health and to help clinicians more clearly communicate what’s at stake.
In their study, published in JAMA Cardiology, they used this new tool to calculate participants’ heart age based on their overall risk for cardiovascular disease — and were stunned by the results: Many had a “heart age” older than their actual age, in some cases by more than a decade.
How’s Your Heart Doing?
Although public health awareness around heart disease is improving, it remains the leading cause of death in the U.S. According to the study’s senior author, Sadiya Khan, a professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at Northwestern University, one key reason is that adults in need of heart health interventions often don’t know it, and therefore miss out on care that could help them.
The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association recommend assessing a patient’s risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) to guide treatment strategies. Normally, doctors communicate cardiovascular risk as a percentage, for example, saying you have a 20 percent risk of stroke in the next 10 years. That means that out of 100 people with similar health profiles, 20 are expected to experience a stroke within that timeframe. However, percentages can feel abstract and may not resonate enough to spur action.
To address this issue, the team used the PREVENT (Predicting Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Events) equations framework to calculate a patient’s heart age instead, making it easier for patients to understand their risk.
“We hope this tool helps doctors and patients discuss risk for heart disease more effectively so we can better inform what therapies can prevent heart attacks, strokes, or heart failure events from ever happening,” said Khan.
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The Average Adult Has an Older Heart
According to a press statement, the tool calculates a person’s heart age using routine health data like blood pressure, cholesterol levels, diabetes status, and lifestyle habits such as smoking.
The Northwestern team tested their heart age calculator using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included around 14,000 participants between the ages of 30 and 79 with no history of CVD.
The findings were clear: On average, both women and men had older heart ages compared to their actual age, ranging from three to more than 10 years older. The age gap was especially wide in men, particularly those with lower educational backgrounds and from Black and Hispanic communities.
Improving Heart Health for All
Framing cardiovascular risk in terms of heart age, rather than impersonal percentages, could help people feel more motivated to make lifestyle changes or pursue guideline-recommended preventive care.
“The important thing is that we have very good options available in our toolbox to help slow that aging down if we can identify it,” said Khan. “This may be even more important in younger people who don’t often think about their risk for heart disease.”
Going forward, Khan and her team plan to study how well the calculator performs at improving long-term heart health outcomes on a larger scale.
“Many people who should be on medicine to lower their risk for heart attack, stroke, or heart failure are not on these medications,” Khan added. “We hope this new heart age calculator will help support discussions about prevention — and ultimately improve health for all people.”
Curious about your own heart age? Take the quiz here.
This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
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Having worked as a biomedical research assistant in labs across three countries, Jenny excels at translating complex scientific concepts – ranging from medical breakthroughs and pharmacological discoveries to the latest in nutrition – into engaging, accessible content. Her interests extend to topics such as human evolution, psychology, and quirky animal stories. When she’s not immersed in a popular science book, you’ll find her catching waves or cruising around Vancouver Island on her longboard.
