Scientist developed a tool to calculates a person’s “heart age” based on known cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking status. A 50-year-old with several high-risk factors could have a heart age that is equivalent to a 65-year-old with an optimal risk profile — a revelation that may help prompt them to take action on reducing their risk.
To evaluate the tool Khan’s team tested it on more than 14,000 US adults aged 30-79 years with no history of cardiovascular disease, using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. On average, women in the survey had a chronological age of 51.3 years, but a heart age of 55.4 years, whereas for men the disparity was even greater: an average chronological age of 49.7 years but an average heart age of 56.7 years.
Socioeconomic factors, such as education and income, also had a big effect on heart age. Among those with a high school education or less, more than one fifth of women, and nearly one third of men, had a heart age more than 10 years older than their true age.
The gap was also significantly wider among members of certain racial and ethnic minorities. Black men had a heart age 8.5 years older than their true age vs 7.9 years older for Hispanic men, 6.7 years older for Asian men, and 6.4 years older for White men. The gaps were 6.2 years for Black women, 4.8 years for Hispanic women, 3.7 years for White women, and 2.8 years for Asian women, according to the researchers.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/your-heart-may-be-older-than-you-think-2025a1000k5z
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