What is your vascular age?

The vital age of a person can reflect or differ from the age of the heart, called vascular age. This indicator is a great ally to know if this organ is in a normal state for the years it has. Understanding what factors influence and controlling bad habits is key to maintaining good heart health.

Vascular age: the importance of knowing the age of the heart

The benefits of cycling -and sports in general- have been in the news for a long time. Science has thoroughly studied this relationship and the results have generated a broad consensus among researchers over the years. In fact, by now, it seems that everyone knows the virtues of physical exercise. Among these positive consequences is cardiovascular capacity; and for this, VO2 max -the oxygen that the body can absorb during an effort- is an excellent indicator.

However, calculating vascular age is another way to know in what situation the heart and arteries are. The age of the heart may coincide with a person's years, although there are parameters -smoking or physical activity- that can place it above or below the vital age of each individual.

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Vascular age is "the age that a subject of the same sex as the patient would have with the same absolute risk but with controlled risk factors," as explained by Dr. José I. Cuende in the Spanish Journal of Cardiology. It is a way to give a physical explanation of a patient's real risk of suffering from a heart disease.

As an example, the article explains that a 40-year-old smoker, hypertensive, and hypercholesterolemic person, with a moderate SCORE risk, has a vascular age of 63 years; that is, they could lose 23 years of vascular life.

Aging causes arteries to become stiffer and less elastic, but this can be accelerated by risk factors -smoking, obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, or lack of physical inactivity- out of control.

Vascular age is calculated taking into account age, gender, smoking habit, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure. This work allows patients to understand the risk; if the vascular age coincides with the patient's age, there is no problem, but "if it is significantly higher than the patient's age, they understand more easily the severity of their situation," as explained by Dr. Leopoldo López.

Currently, there are several devices that estimate this indicator through the calculation of the speed at which pulse waves -caused by heartbeats- travel from the carotid artery to the femoral artery or by measuring at the fingertips. On the other hand, there is the well-known Framingham function, available in many online places, or similar ones.

The problem is that the results can vary depending on the calculator used or, sometimes, be imprecise. In addition, they do not take into account all important aspects -such as the presence of family history, for example-, so only a cardiologist is qualified to give this verdict.

Results can indicate early cardiovascular aging, a normal vascular age -the physiological and biological age expected for the patient's life stage- or a young cardiovascular age.

However, people have a great power over vascular age: an unhealthy lifestyle adds years to the heart, while healthy habits rejuvenate it.

The recipe consists of keeping modifiable risk factors under control; that is, eliminating tobacco, drugs, maintaining a healthy diet, and engaging in frequent physical exercise. In addition, it is important to have correct cholesterol levels, control hypertension and diabetes, and pay attention to blood pressure, heart size, and heart rate.