Some Conditions May Prematurely Age Your Heart

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the biggest health issues today, especially as people around the world are living longer. In 2022, over 19 million people passed away from CVD, with most of these deaths caused by heart attack and stroke.

To better understand heart health and what leads to CVD, many health professionals look to cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, a powerful, non-invasive tool used to study the heart. It provides detailed images that help understand the heart’s structure and function. It is especially useful for detecting early signs of heart aging in people with conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes. 

Aging is a complex process, and it doesn’t always happen at the same rate for everyone. While we can’t control the passage of time, there are some lifestyle changes that can support healthy aging, from your cognition to your heart health. Comparing a patient’s heart age (based on detailed heart imaging) to their actual age may help highlight why those changes are critical.

To help motivate people to take steps to support heart health, researchers created a simple model to estimate how “old” a person’s heart might be based on how it works and behaves. They also looked at how certain factors, like high blood pressure or cholesterol, might speed up the aging process of the heart. These results were published in the European Heart Journal Open.

How Was This Study Conducted?

This study looked at data from 563 people from locations in the United Kingdom, Spain and Singapore. Functional heart age was determined by measuring heart changes associated with aging using a specialized scan, and researchers focused on people aged 10 to 85 without known heart-related health risks.

The researchers also categorized participants into “healthy” (191 people) and “unhealthy” (366 people) based on their overall health status. To validate the findings, an additional group of 25 healthy people from hospitals in the UK was studied. The healthy cohort included individuals who had a “normal” body mass index (BMI) and were free from any metabolic, cardiovascular, or respiratory diseases. Additionally, these participants had high-quality imaging scans suitable for precise analysis.

Participants in the unhealthy cohort had one or more health conditions, including being overweight or having obesity (based on BMI), atrial fibrillation, hypertension, diabetes or high cholesterol (hyperlipidemia). Like the healthy group, only those with good-quality imaging scans were included in this cohort.

For this study, researchers developed a unique model to calculate “functional heart age” using data from healthy individuals as a baseline. Key variables for the model were selected based on their physiological relevance and age-related trends. 

What Did The Study Find?

When comparing the hearts of the two groups—those categorized as healthy vs. those categorized as unhealthy—the “unhealthy” group tended to have larger heart chambers and volumes, while some measures of heart efficiency were better in the healthy group. Interestingly, even in healthy people, the structure and function of the heart naturally changed with age.

One of the main findings was that as healthy people age, the left atrium of the heart, which is a chamber that helps pump blood, undergoes significant changes. The amount of blood it holds after filling and pumping increases with age, but its efficiency at pumping the blood and how quickly the nearby left ventricle fills with blood tends to decrease. On the right side of the heart, similar trends were seen, with some measures showing positive changes with aging, like the amount of blood the right atrium can hold, while others, such as how much blood is left in the right ventricle after it pumps, showed slight declines.

From these findings, researchers developed a way to estimate the “functional heart age” using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). For healthy people, their functional heart age generally matched their actual age, meaning their hearts were working as expected for their age. For those with heart-related health problems, though, their functional heart age was often much higher than their real age. For example, people with conditions like obesity, diabetes or hypertension often had hearts that appeared older on a functional level, showing the extra strain these health issues place on the heart.

The impact of body weight on the heart was also analyzed. For people with a “normal” or slightly higher BMI, their functional heart age was similar to their actual age. However, as BMI increased into obese categories, the functional heart age started to climb. For instance, people with severe obesity (Class III) had hearts that functioned as if they were decades older than their actual age – up to 45 years older in some cases. This shows how excess weight over time may be linked to heart health.

Finally, the study found that certain chronic health conditions like hypertension, diabetes and atrial fibrillation also made the heart age faster. People in middle to older age groups with high blood pressure or diabetes often had hearts that seemed much older than their actual age. Some individuals with more severe diabetes even showed functional heart ages as much as 40 to 56 years older than their real age. 

While this study provides valuable insights, it does come with certain limitations that are important to understand. One key challenge is that the research looks back at data from different age groups rather than following the same individuals over time. This approach can lead to some issues, such as survivor bias, where older participants in the study may have already overcome certain health challenges, making those issues seem less significant overall. 

Additionally, the study doesn’t measure how long someone has dealt with a particular health condition, which can introduce variability among individuals. Factors like diet, exercise habits and socioeconomic status, which can influence health outcomes, weren’t directly examined either. 

How Does This Apply To Real Life?

The findings of this study may help understand that certain lifestyle factors, such as maintaining a healthy weight and managing conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes, may, in fact, slow down the aging process of the heart. If you’ve been meaning to stay more on top of your own health, this study might just be the motivation you need to get started.

And getting started with healthy habits doesn’t have to be an intimidating journey. You can start with one factor, whether it’s seeing a health professional more regularly about your health, aiming for a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, staying active through regular exercise or managing stress levels. All of these can contribute to a healthier heart. 

If you want to start by changing the way you eat, we can definitely help. Try adding more veggies to your dinner routine with recipes like our Crispy Salmon Rice Bowl or Sheet-Pan Sweet Potato Fajitas. And if you’re interested in trying out a plan to expand what you eat, this simple plan of five-ingredient dinners and this 30-minute meal plan can help you add veggies to your day without any added stress.

The Bottom Line

A new study in the European Heart Journal Open indicates that conditions like obesity, diabetes or hypertension may prematurely age the heart. Studies like this one demonstrate the importance of managing factors such as weight, blood pressure and chronic conditions like diabetes to better support heart function over time. By illustrating how these factors can directly contribute to accelerated heart aging, the findings make a case for preventive measures and healthier lifestyle choices for people at every stage of life.