Your heart might be older than you are.
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Three of 4 American adults have a heart age that is older than their actual age because of their risk factors for heart disease and stroke, according to a report by the Centers of Disease Control.
Heart age was higher than actual age for all race/ethnic groups, but it was highest for African-American men and women, averaging 11 years older than their chronological age.
Among men and women, excess heart age increases with age and decreases with greater education and household income.
More than 600,000 Americans die of heart disease each year, and it’s the leading cause of death for men and women.
The calculator includes all the basic factors that science has shown affect a person’s risk of heart disease: blood pressure, weight, blood sugar, cholesterol, age, sex and whether they have ever smoked.
How healthy is your heart?
The average heart age for men is 7.8 years older than their actual age, compared to 5.4 years older for women.
Using data collected from all states, as well as information from the Framingham Heart Study, CDC researchers found that heart age varies by gender, region, ethnicity/race, and other sociodemographic characteristics.
An online tool at www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/heartage.htm can help people determine how old their heart is, based on factors like weight, smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure, said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
U.S. adults can learn their own heart age and how to improve it. This could include quitting smoking or lowering blood pressure through eating a healthier diet, taking appropriate medication, or exercising more.
“It gives a stark, simple picture of your future risk of having or dying from a heart attack or a stroke”, Frieden said.
CDC officials released the report Tuesday. “And that’s because she smokes and has uncontrolled high blood pressure”.
The heart-age concept was created to more effectively communicate a person’s risk for death from myocardial infarction or stroke-and to show what can be done to lower that risk.
They also should know whether they have diabetes, and the calculator offers a more precise version if people know their cholesterol levels. A woman with the same risks has a heart age of 74, the study said.
Patterson said he’s not sure that telling patients their heart age will motivate them.
The new study is hardly the first to find that many Americans have poor health. Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana, Kentucky and Alabama have the highest percentage of adults with a heart age 5 years or more over their actual age.
“It’s scary and it should be”, CDC director Tom Frieden said.
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“More than three in four heart attacks and strokes could be avoided or postponed if people manage or control their cardiovascular risk factors”, the CDC team said.
