Unhealthy lifestyles may be ageing your heart too fast

Unhealthy lifestyles are dramatically accelerating the ageing of the heart, contributing to a global rise in several cardiovascular diseases, finds a study, led by Indian-origin researchers in the UK.

Using a new Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging technique, also known as cardiovascular MRI scan, researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) uncovered the "true age" of a heart.

The MRI scan revealed how unhealthy lifestyles can dramatically accelerate the heart's functional age.

While among healthy people, the heart's age was found to be similar to the chronological age, for patients with diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and atrial fibrillation, the functional heart age was significantly higher.

"For example, a 50-year-old with high blood pressure might have a heart that works like it's 55," said lead researcher Dr Pankaj Garg, from UEA's Norwich Medical School and a consultant cardiologist at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

"People with health issues like diabetes or obesity often have hearts that are ageing faster than they should - sometimes by decades. So, this could help doctors step in early to stop heart disease in its tracks," he added.

The findings could transform how heart disease is diagnosed -- offering a lifeline to millions by catching problems before they become deadly, said the researchers who called their cutting-edge technique a "game changer for keeping hearts healthier, longer".

"It could also be the wake-up call that people need to take better care of themselves - whether that's eating healthier, exercising more, or following their doctor's advice. It's about giving people a fighting chance against heart disease," Garg said.

The team collaborated with hospitals in the UK, Spain, and Singapore and studied MRI scans from 557 people, of which 191 were healthy individuals, while 366 had conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity.

Using advanced imaging, they measured things like the size and strength of the heart's chambers. Then, they built a formula to calculate the heart's 'functional age' and checked it against healthy hearts to make sure it was accurate.

Heart disease is one of the world's biggest killers. The new MRI method gives doctors a powerful tool to look inside the heart like never before and spot trouble early - before symptoms even start, said the team.

The research has been accepted for publication in the European Heart Journal Open.

Indo-Asian News Service