Heart's premature aging linked to obesity and poor lifestyle choices, resulting in an age difference of 5-45 years.
Going Beyond Age: Discovering Your Heart's True Health Age
Want to keep a close eye on your heart's health? A revolutionary approach could hold the key.
Introducing Heart Functional Age: A recent study examines a groundbreaking method to pinpoint an individual's heart's functional age compared to their biological age.
Piecing Together the MRI Puzzle: Researchers in this retrospective observational study aimed to explore a way to measure the age of people's hearts, revealing the differences between healthy and unhealthy aging. They recognized that modifiable factors, like high blood pressure or an unhealthy lifestyle, can influence how quickly the heart ages. One potential tool to scrutinize the heart's appearance and performance is cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Researchers enlisted a healthy reference group of 191 participants and compared them to a testing group of 366 with at least one comorbidity, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity. They also included another group of 25 participants as a "preliminary external validation" cohort.
Examining various components of heart structure and function, the researchers then built a model to estimate participants' heart ages. They paid particular attention to left atrial end-systolic volume and left atrial ejection fraction, both of which evaluate the left upper chamber's function.
There were clear differences between the healthy and unhealthy groups, with the unhealthy group experiencing a higher median ejection fraction.
Comorbidities and Heart Aging: Researchers uncovered that healthy participants' heart ages aligned with their real age. Conversely, unhealthy participants showed ages much higher than their biological age. The estimated heart ages were almost five years older than the chronological age of these participants.
Weighty Matters: Remember those days when you were told, "You act like you're fifty!"? Well, it just might be true! Obesity seemed to impact functional age, with higher weight causing an increase in heart years. Participants with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher had a functional heart age almost 45 years higher than their chronological age.
AFib and Heart Troubles: Participants with atrial fibrillation also saw an increase in functional heart age compared to healthy participants.
Interestingly, functional heart age sometimes increased for other comorbidities in certain age groups. High blood pressure berated healthy participants between the ages of 30 and 69, while diabetes caused the most significant increase in the 40 to 49-year-old group. Surprisingly, in the 70 to 85-year-old group, participants with diabetes and high blood pressure actually showed lower functional heart ages than their healthy counterparts.
Dr. Pankaj Garg, Associate Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of East Anglia, raised keen observations based on the study findings.
"We have discovered an equation that uses measurements from heart MRI scans to determine your heart's age. A healthy heart's age usually matches your real age. But if you have conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, a heartbeat disorder, or extra weight, your heart can look way older-about 4.6 years older on average. For people with a lot of extra weight, their hearts looked up to 45 years older!"- Dr. Pankaj Garg, Associate Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
Limitations and Future Steps
This research provides a promising stepping stone for more effective cardiac health monitoring but also showcases several limitations. First, the work involved estimations and assumed the functional age of the heart. Second, since the study was not long-term, there's a higher risk of survivor bias. Thirdly, researchers did not measure how long participants had had the measured comorbidities. Lastly, bias is noted in some of the calculations, as well as the possibility of selection bias.
This study did not assess certain factors, like exercise and diet, which could provide vital insights. Additionally, there could have been variation in the unhealthy group due to medical treatments.
Critiques were also raised by Dr. Patrick Kee, a cardiologist at Vital Heart & Vein who was not involved in the study, primarily concerning the study's inability to examine long-term data and lack of measurements that could have been helpful. The simple model used in the study focused mainly on left atrium end-diastolic volume and left atrium ejection fraction, and further work may be required to refine these models.
Yet, the use of cardiac MRI has several appealing features, particularly easiness and swiftness. These noninvasive tests don't require any incisions or needles, and for checking heart age, merely a few minutes are needed. This magnifies the potential to screen numerous individuals quickly, aiding in the early detection of heart issues and preventing more significant problems like heart failure from transpiring.
Moreover, determining a functional heart age could inspire patients to improve their lifestyles, identify individuals at risk for future clinical problems, and even gauge response to clinical therapeutics and interventions.
"An assessment of a 'functional heart age' (either through imaging or other biomarkers) can potentially motivate patients to improve their lifestyles, identify patients at risk for future clinical events, and possibly even evaluate response to clinical therapeutics and interventions."- Dr. Cheng-Han Chen, Medical Director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA
By comparing a patient's functioning heart age with their chronological age, doctors can effectively communicate the risk of heart problems, prompting lifestyle and therapeutic modifications. This approach offers a tangible measure that can motivate patients to adopt preventive strategies like weight management, blood pressure control, and diabetes management to mitigate heart health decline. Tracking changes over time allows clinicians to adjust treatment plans before permanent damage occurs.
- This revolutionary approach, Heart Functional Age, assesses an individual's heart's functional age compared to their biological age.
- The researchers identified modifiable factors like high blood pressure and an unhealthy lifestyle as influencers of how quickly the heart ages.
- The study involved a healthy reference group and a testing group with at least one comorbidity, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity.
- The model built by researchers to estimate participants' heart ages paid particular attention to left atrial end-systolic volume and left atrial ejection fraction.
- In the study, obesity seemed to impact functional age, with higher weight causing an increase in heart years.
- Participants with atrial fibrillation also saw an increase in functional heart age compared to healthy participants.
- Determining a functional heart age could potentially inspire patients to improve their lifestyles, identify patients at risk for future clinical problems, and evaluate response to clinical therapeutics and interventions.
- Tracking changes over time allows clinicians to adjust treatment plans before permanent damage occurs, making it a valuable tool for heart health monitoring and prevention.
