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Cardiovascular age: Calculate your heart age
Cardiovascular age, often referred to as "heart age" or “Vascular Age,” reflects the condition of your heart and blood vessels relative to your chronological age. A higher cardiovascular age indicates an increased risk of heart-related issues. Fortunately, tools like a heart age calculator or a cardiovascular risk calculator exist today to help you calculate your cardiovascular age and understand your overall cardiovascular health.
What is cardiovascular age?
Cardiovascular age estimates the age of your heart and blood vessels based on various health risk factors, including blood pressure, cholesterol levels, smoking status, and body mass index (BMI), which can affect your weight. If your cardiovascular age is higher than your actual chronological age, it suggests that your heart is aging faster than it should, increasing your risk for heart problems, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Conversely, a lower cardiovascular age indicates a healthier heart relative to your chronological age, suggesting better blood flow and lower pressure on your cardiovascular system.
Factors influencing cardiovascular age
Several key factors contribute to an increased cardiovascular age, impacting your overall health:
High blood pressure
Elevated blood pressure (hypertension) forces your heart to work harder, leading to arterial damage over time. This increased pressure is a major concern for cardiovascular health.
High cholesterol levels
Excessive low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels can result in plaque buildup in the arteries, restricting blood flow and increasing the risk for heart disease and overall cardiovascular disease. Managing pressure or cholesterol is vital.
Smoking
Tobacco use damages blood vessels and lowers oxygen levels in the blood, accelerating the aging of your cardiovascular system and increasing your cardiovascular age.
Obesity
Excess weight strains the heart and is often associated with other risk factors like hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes, contributing to a higher cardiovascular age.
Lack of physical inactivity
Insufficient physical activity contributes to poor cardiovascular fitness, and potential weight gain, and can negatively affect blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Unhealthy diet
Diets high in saturated fats, trans fats, and sugars can lead to high cholesterol levels and elevated blood pressure, directly impacting your heart health and cardiovascular age.
Assessing your heart age
Tools like the Heart Age Calculator or a general cardiovascular risk calculator allow individuals to estimate their heart age by inputting information about their health and lifestyle. These calculators consider factors such as chronological age, sex, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, smoking status, and diabetes presence to provide an estimate of cardiovascular age. For instance, the Framingham Heart Study has developed risk functions to estimate the 10-year risk for heart problems and cardiovascular disease, which can be used to determine heart age and understand your cardiovascular health status. Addressing factors like high blood pressure or cholesterol is a key outcome of using such calculators.
Withings Body Comp, Withings Body Scan, and Vascular Age
Withings Body Comp and Body Scan are advanced smart scales that offer a feature called "Vascular Age." This metric assesses the health of your arteries by measuring Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV), an indicator of arterial stiffness that can affect blood flow and blood pressure. Vascular Age compares your arterial health to the average values for your chronological age group, providing insight into whether your arteries are aging faster or slower than expected impacting your overall cardiovascular age. It's important to note that while Vascular Age offers valuable information for your cardiovascular health, it should be considered a wellness indicator rather than a diagnostic tool for cardiovascular disease.
Importance of early detection for cardiovascular health
Research from many heart studies indicates that elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels during young adulthood are associated with an increased risk of heart problems and cardiovascular diseases later in life. A study involving 36 030 U.S. adults found that individuals with high systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and LDL cholesterol during young adulthood had a higher incidence of coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke in later years. Early attention to blood pressure or cholesterol can significantly impact long-term cardiovascular health.
Moreover, another significant heart study published in the European Heart Journal Open highlighted that conditions like obesity (excess weight), hypertension (high blood pressure), and diabetes might accelerate the functional aging of the heart, effectively increasing cardiovascular age regardless of chronological age. Researchers used cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to compare heart health across different age groups and found that individuals with such health issues often had hearts that functioned as if they were much older than their actual chronological age, impacting their overall health and blood flow dynamics.
Lifestyle changes to improve heart age and cardiovascular health
Adopting healthy lifestyle changes can significantly improve your cardiovascular age, reduce your risk for heart issues, and prevent cardiovascular disease:
Monitoring your heart health
Regular monitoring of key health metrics is essential for maintaining optimal cardiovascular health and managing your cardiovascular age:
• Blood Pressure: Regular checks help detect hypertension (high blood pressure) early, allowing for timely intervention. Managing this pressure is key to good heart health.
• Cholesterol levels: Periodic lipid profiles can identify high cholesterol levels, enabling dietary and medical management. Knowing your cholesterol levels is vital for assessing your risk for heart disease.
• Heart rate: Monitoring resting heart rate can provide insights into cardiovascular fitness and detect potential heart issues.
• Weight: Keeping track of body weight aids in managing obesity-related heart risks and maintaining a healthy cardiovascular age.
• Blood flow: While not directly measured at home easily, lifestyle and medical interventions for blood pressure and cholesterol levels aim to improve blood flow.
Devices like Withings Body Comp or Body Scan smart scales offer convenient at-home monitoring of metrics like weight and Vascular Age, empowering individuals to take proactive lifestyle changes toward better heart health and lower cardiovascular age. Understanding both your pressure and cholesterol numbers is a step towards better health.
Taking control of your cardiovascular age
Understanding and monitoring your cardiovascular age is a vital component of heart health management. By assessing your heart age through tools like a heart age calculator or cardiovascular risk calculator, and utilizing innovative devices like Withings Body Comp and Body Scan smart scales, you can gain valuable insights into your cardiovascular health and cardiovascular age relative to your chronological age. Implementing positive lifestyle changes—such as engaging in regular physical activity, managing your weight, and addressing factors like high blood pressure and cholesterol levels—and regularly monitoring key health indicators like heart rate and blood pressure can significantly reduce your cardiovascular age.
This proactive approach to managing your cardiovascular health, including being aware of your pressure or cholesterol, can lead to a healthier heart, improved blood flow, a lower risk for heart problems and cardiovascular disease, and a longer, more fulfilling life. Many heart studies, including the Framingham Heart Study, underscore the importance of these actions. Taking care of your heart is taking care of your future.
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