Health
Is Your Heart Aging Faster Than You?
Health Points
- Experts have launched a tool to help people discover their “heart age” and assess heart health in a relatable way.
- The calculator highlights risks if your heart age is five or more years older than your actual age.
- Some experts note the tool’s limitations and encourage discussing results with your doctor.
A new online calculator gives you an easy way to see how your heart stacks up against your calendar age.
Instead of a percentage, the tool translates cardiovascular disease risk into a “heart age,” making it simple to understand.
“If your heart age is well above your actual age, consider talking to your healthcare provider,” said Sadiya Khan, MD, the tool’s co-creator.
The heart age calculation comes from the PREVENT tool, which uses factors like cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes status to estimate risk over ten years.
While the 10-year risk percentage can seem abstract, the heart age approach personalizes your results and may motivate positive change.
For instance, a 45-year-old woman with diabetes and borderline high cholesterol may see a heart age of 60—highlighting her increased risk, even if her percentage appears low.
On average, Americans’ heart ages are higher than their actual ages. Researchers found women’s hearts were about four years older, while men’s were seven years older than their true age.
The gap was wider for Black and Hispanic people, those in middle age, and individuals with less education or lower incomes.
Seeing both your heart age and your chronological age together is an effective, straightforward way to rethink heart health, said Nour Makarem, PhD.
Parveen Garg, MD, noted that risk percentages can be misleading, while heart age offers a clearer picture.
“Combining heart age with risk percentages may be the best way to communicate risk,” Garg said.
Keith Ferdinand, MD, believes the tool would be even more helpful if integrated with electronic health records to track changes over time.
But some cardiologists, like Michael Miller, MD, question whether knowing your heart age leads to better outcomes, saying treatment for high blood pressure or cholesterol should continue regardless.
“A lower heart age might give false reassurance to some patients,” Miller noted.
Nathan Wong, PhD, added that the calculator doesn’t factor in family history, pregnancy, or some other heart health details, which could affect accuracy.
Use your heart age as a starting point for meaningful conversations with your healthcare team and to inspire healthy choices.
