Your heart is aging faster than you
New research has shown that your heart could be aging faster than you imagine even if you’re only in your mid-20s. People prone to heart disease may have a heart as much as 10-15 older than themselves.
In fact, 1 in 2 men and 2 in 5 women have a heart age 5 years or more than their actual age.
The CDC conducted a survey in the United States which showed men, on an average, have a heart eight years older than their actual age. This number was lower for women, but at five and a half years, was alarming nonetheless.
This difference was found to be more pronounced in Indians due to their genetic predisposition and a larger prevalence of risk factors all but assuring them of a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes. The heart-age of a person depends on their risk profile and signifies the age of their cardiovascular system. Some of these risks include high BP, cigarette smoking, diabetes and BMI as an indicator of obesity.
Said Dr. Sujeet Jha, director, Institute of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Max Healthcare, ‘CDC uses an online application to calculate heart-age. When we put 40 persons (20 controls and 20 diabetics) through the test recently, we found that the average heart-age in the control was 10 years more than their chronological age. Among diabetics, the difference was nearly double.’
Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI) corroborated these findings by another exercise that it conducted. Dr. Ashok Seth, chief of cardiac sciences at FEHI, said, ‘A normal heart ages by developing deposits in arteries leading to blockages. It is common in old age. But we are seeing young and middle-aged people suffering from the condition, which clearly reflects a bigger health crisis. The CDC heart age calculator can be an important tool to help people understand the gravity of the situation and take suitable measures.’
Estimate your heart age by using CDC app or log on to http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/cardiovasaculardisease/heartage.html
As an Indian, one has to be a lot more careful because:
- The Indian DNA is more prone to heart diseases and stroke
- Indians tend to have high prevalence of high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking
What you can do:
- Identify risk factors and take steps to minimize them
- Control blood pressure and lipids (cholesterol/triglycerides)
- Exercise and eat a healthy diet
