“Even though many people in their thirties or forties may feel ‘too young’ to worry about their risk for heart disease, we know that risk can often be silent until it is too late,” says senior study author Sadiya Khan, MD, a cardiologist and associate professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
Heart Age Calculator Revealed Hidden Risk
Dr. Khan and her team arrived at these findings, published in JAMA Cardiology, by developing a heart age calculator to determine how heart-disease risk is affected by a wide variety of factors, including:
- Health issues like high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol
- Lifestyle characteristics like exercise habits and smoking status
- Socioeconomic issues like poverty or limited education
Then, the scientists calculated heart risk for more than 14,000 people between 30 and 79 years old who had no history of heart disease.
They learned that, on average, women’s hearts were 4.1 years older than their chronological age and men’s hearts were 6.9 years older.
The heart age calculator determined that many people — roughly 16 percent of women and 26 percent of men — had hearts at least a decade older than their chronological age, the study found.
Race and Education Factor Significantly in Heart Disease Risk
Race, income, and education also play a big role in the risk of advanced heart age, according to the study.
Black adults had the highest risk: Black women had an average heart age 6.2 years older than their chronological age, while for Black men it was 8.5 years higher.
Hispanic people had the second highest risk among racial groups in the study: Hispanic women had an average heart age 4.8 years older than their chronological age, while it was 7.9 years higher for Hispanic men.
In addition, 23 percent of women and 32 percent of men without any education beyond high school had a heart at least a decade older than their chronological age. So did 24 percent of women and 35 percent of men with the lowest income levels in the study.
The study wasn’t designed to prove whether or how factors like race, poverty, or limited education might directly cause heart problems. Instead, it helped pinpoint which characteristics might mean people have risk factors for heart disease with the potential to prematurely age their heart and make events like heart attacks or strokes more likely.
“Having high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol can make someone’s heart age higher than their chronological age,” Khan says. “But, there is good news because we have treatments that can help reverse it, too.”
Knowing Your Heart Disease Risk Level Can Help You Take Action
Ideally, you should use a heart age calculator like the one in the study as part of your annual physical and not on your own at home, Khan advises. That way, she says, your doctor can provide accurate readings for things like blood pressure and cholesterol levels to get an accurate risk assessment, then talk to you about any medical interventions or lifestyle changes that may be needed to reduce your risk.
“Knowing you’re at high risk gives you a chance to act before serious problems happen,” says Yu Chen, PhD, an epidemiology professor at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, who wasn’t involved in the study. “If you’re high risk, you should work with your doctor to make lifestyle changes — like eating healthier, exercising, quitting smoking, or starting medication — to lower your risk and protect your heart.”
This matters because high risk translates directly into higher odds of of heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, and premature death, says Michael Shapiro, DO, a cardiology professor and director of the Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“Identifying elevated risk is the gateway to intervening early through lifestyle changes, and if needed, targeted medical therapy,” says Dr. Shapiro, who wasn’t involved in the new study.
This is especially true if your heart’s biological age is at least a decade higher than your chronological age, Shapiro says. You might need more intensive lifestyle changes, powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins, or medication to dramatically reduce your blood pressure, Shapiro says.
“Knowing your risk should not induce fear — it should drive action,” Shapiro says.