Health
Is Your Heart Age Higher Than Your Own?
Health Points
- Researchers developed a new online calculator to estimate your ‘heart age’ based on cardiovascular risk factors.
- If your heart age is five years or more above your real age, it could be a sign to check your health with a doctor.
- This tool may make heart health more relatable, but experts note it has limitations and should be discussed with a healthcare provider.
Researchers have introduced an online tool that translates traditional heart risk percentages into a ‘heart age,’ making cardiovascular health easier to grasp for many adults.
This calculator uses factors like blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes status, and kidney health to estimate your risk as an equivalent age.
“We developed the heart age equation to translate this risk into a more relatable number,” said Dr. Sadiya Khan, one of the study authors.
On average, most participants in the study had heart ages higher than their real age, with some groups—such as Black and Hispanic adults—showing a larger gap.
Dr. Khan explained that if your heart age is much higher than your chronological age, it may indicate a need for lifestyle changes or medical treatment.
Modifiable factors like high blood pressure and cholesterol often drive an elevated heart age, which can be improved with healthy habits and, when necessary, medication.
Some health professionals think the visual comparison of heart age and actual age can motivate people to take better care of their hearts.
“Using heart age and relative risk of CVD together may be the most effective way to communicate a person’s heart health,” said Dr. Parveen Garg.
Other experts caution that the tool has its shortcomings, as it doesn’t account for family history or certain heart health factors, and it may be a while before it is widely used in clinical settings.
Presenting risk as a heart age could help some people, but a lower ‘heart age’ might give a false sense of security, warned Dr. Nathan Wong.
If you try the heart age calculator, consider discussing the results and your personal risk factors with a healthcare provider.
