Face wrinkles are an obvious and inevitable sign of aging. But your heart can also age faster than you think – and now scientists have a way to check.
Researchers At the University of England of East Anglia, developed a new MRI method to reveal the functional age of your heart, or a measure of the way your heart is really, regardless of the number of years you have experienced on this planet.
Why is it important?
Well, for people with high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity, this number can be a lot higher than their real age.
Here’s how it works: using MRI analyzes of more than 500 people, scientists have measured data points such as the size and strength of the heart chambers. Then they built a formula that calculates the heart age and compared it to the hearts of healthy people to check the precision.
For those who have no health problems, the heart and the generally equal “real” age. But in patients with conditions such as hypertension or diabetes, the heart often had five, 10, or even 20 years older than expected – as a 50 -year -old man who lives with the heart of a 55 -year -old man.
It’s not just anecdotes. It is a warning panel.
After all, knowledge of the real age of your heart could help doctors identify heart disease before the appearance of symptoms. And for patients, it could be the awakening they need to change course, eat better and move more.
With heart disease, one of the best killers in the world, a tool that can identify heart risks early and give people time to overthrow things is welcome.
In the case of our hearts, we want them to act their age. And know if they are early in the wrong direction.
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