To Your Health
September, 2015 (Vol. 09, Issue 09) |
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Not So Young at Heart?
By Editorial Staff
Feeling old these days? Depending on your health behaviors, your heart could be even older – a whole lot older. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, age, blood pressure and body-mass index (BMI) all factor into the age of your heart, which is bad news for 40 percent of Americans whose hearts are five years older than their actual ages, according to data derived from the ongoing
Framingham Heart Study.
Fortunately, if your heart's aging more rapidly than you are, you can do something about it: adopt heart-healthy behaviors today, such as eating more whole grains and less saturated fat; exercising regularly, including aerobic exercise and interval routines; and of course, quitting smoking if you're a current smoker (according to the CDC, quitting smoking would take 14 years off a man's heart age after only one year).
So, want to know your heart's current age? Click here to access a Heart Age Predictor calculator and find out. Talk to your doctor for more information on how to stay young at heart.
