Lifestyle choices and obesity may lead to premature heart aging, with an estimated acceleration of 5-45 years.
Chatting Heart Health: Discovering Your Heart's True Age
Getting a grip on your heart's health can be a life-saver, helping you and your doctor make informed choices about your cardiovascular wellness.
Recently, researchers set out to explore a method for estimating the functional age of a person's heart compared to their biological age. By using a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) model, they aimed to identify any discrepancies between healthy and unhealthy heart aging.
Assessing Heart Age with MRI
Instead of mere guesswork, this retrospective observational study introduced a potential tool to examine the heart's structure and function: cardiac MRI. By looking at a healthy reference population and comparing them to a group with at least one comorbidity (such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity), along with another testing cohort as a preliminary verification, researchers sought to create a model for measuring a heart's functional age.
The model they developed took into account the left atrial end-systolic volume and left atrial ejection fraction, both factors gauging the left upper chamber of the heart's function. These elements significantly factored into the able aged estimation among 169 healthy participants.
Conditions Boosting Heart Age
When it came to the crunch of numbers, researchers discovered an eye-opening truth: healthy participants' heart ages remained comparable to their actual age, while unhealthy participants witnessed functional heart ages that outpaced their chronological age. On average, their heart ages were about four-and-a-half years older than their real age. However, things got more serious for those with obesity and atrial fibrillation (AFib). Participants with a body mass index of 40 or higher saw their functional heart age rise 45 years above their actual age. Those with AFib experienced a higher functional heart age compared to healthy participants.
Interestingly, the impact of high blood pressure and diabetes on heart age seemed to vary with age. Among the 30 to 69-year-old group, participants with high blood pressure displayed increased functional heart age compared to healthy participants in the same age group. Similarly, diabetes spiked functional heart age for participants in the same age range, with the most significant jump seen in the 40 to 49-year-old bracket. However, the situation changed for the 70 to 85-year-old group, as participants with diabetes and high blood pressure experienced lower functional heart ages than healthy participants of the same age.
Key Findings by the Researchers
"Boosting the Stakes," said lead study author Pankaj Garg, MD, PhD, when speaking to Media Not Otherwise Specified (MNT)."We've cracked the code on discovering a simple math formula that estimates how old a heart appears in heart MRIs. For folks with a fit bill of health, heart age matches their real age. But if someone battles conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, a zany heart rhythm, or excess weight, their heart can seem anywhere from 4.6 years to a whopping 45 years older!"
Study's Restrictions
Though this research offers an exciting glimpse into the future of heart health monitoring, it's not without its limitations. Firstly, researchers had to make estimations when calculating functional heart age. Secondly, the study's short duration raises the risk of survivor bias, potentially underestimating how comorbidities affect older populations. Thirdly, the study did not quantify the length of time participants had the measured comorbidities. Bias also crept in during some calculations, and the study did not take exercise and diet into account.
There could have been variations within the unhealthy test cohort due to medical treatments, too. Lastly, this study excluded people with severe chronic kidney disease—a contraindication for the MRI scans used—potentially influencing the participant pool.
Despite these limitations, researchers hope this work signifies a significant stride toward improved monitoring of cardiac health.
The Future is Heart-Smart
"A Heart Check to Rewind Damage," Cheng-Han Chen, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist, expressed to MNT. "By measuring a heart's functional age—either through imaging or other biomarkers—we can potentially motivate patients to revamp their lifestyles, spot patients at risk of future issues, and even assess response to clinical treatments and interventions."
With a noninvasive and quick heart MRI scan, tracking heart age could become an effective preventive measure, potentially nipping problems in the bud—like heart failure—before they have a chance to blossom.
Further communication between doctors and patients regarding cardiac health appears to be a helpful takeaway, too. As the authors herself noted, "By comparing a patient's 'functional heart age' with their 'chronological age,' clinicians can effectively communicate 'cardiovascular risk' to encourage lifestyle and therapeutic modifications. This approach can also serve as a tangible measure to motivate patients toward preventive strategies such as weight management, blood pressure control, and diabetes management to mitigate the progressive decline in heart health. Tracking changes over time allows clinicians to adjust treatment plans where irreversible damage may otherwise occur."
- This new method uses cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess the functional age of a person's heart, comparing healthy individuals to those with comorbidities like high blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity.
- The model developed by researchers focused on the left atrial end-systolic volume and left atrial ejection fraction, significant factors in estimating a person's heart's functional age.
- Healthy participants showed heart ages similar to their biological age, while those with conditions like obesity or atrial fibrillation (AFib) had heart ages significantly older than their real age.
- Participants with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher had functional heart ages 45 years older than their actual age, while those with AFib had higher functional heart ages compared to healthy participants.
- High blood pressure and diabetes seemed to have varying effects on heart age, with the most significant impact seen in younger participants within the 40 to 49-year-old bracket.
- The study suggests that this new technique could be a powerful tool for monitoring cardiac health and encouraging lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of future heart issues.
- Tracking a person's heart age through quick and noninvasive MRI scans could become an essential preventive measure against conditions like heart failure.
- By comparing a patient's functional heart age with their chronological age, doctors can effectively communicate cardiovascular risk, motivating patients to adopt preventive strategies like weight management, blood pressure control, and diabetes management.
