Is Your Heart Older Than Your Age?

Is your heart age older than you think? A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that three quarters of adults in the United States have a heart that is older than their calendar age, according to an article in the September 9, 2015 Huffington Post’s Health Living section.

Heart disease and stroke are two of the three leading causes of death in Canada and according to Statistics Canada, nearly 16,000 deaths as a result of heart attack occur each year.  Heart disease and stroke costs Canadians more than $20.9 billion each year in medical costs, lost wages and decreased productivity, according to the Conference Board of Canada.

The CDC report found the average men’s heart age was calculated as nearly eight years older than their actual age and women’s hearts were about five and a half years older.  The study is aimed at preventing death as a result of heart disease.  It is hoped that people who know their risk will make lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, stopping smoking and treating blood pressure and high cholesterol to lessen their chances of suffering a heart attack.

The heart age calculator is available online at: http://www.framinghamheartstudy.org/risk-functions/cardiovascular-disease/general-cvd-risk-prediction-using-bmi.php and requires individuals to know their systolic (the higher of the two numbers) blood pressure in order to generate a prediction.

The full CDC report can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns .