CDC: Your heart may be aging you
Not so fond of birthdays as you get older?
Grim news: your heart may have celebrated even more than you.
On average, U.S. adults have a "heart age" that is seven years older than their chronological age, as measured by their risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.
That is the crux of a new public-service message from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And women are in worse shape than men.
Two out of five women have a heart age that is five or more years older than their actual age, whereas one out of two men are in that condition. The findings are based on the long-running Framingham Heart Study and on data from every state, the agency says.
People can make their heart younger in several ways, such as exercise, eating a healthy diet and, for those who smoke, quitting the habit, the CDC says.
Calculate your own heart age here.
Read more from the Check Up blog »