Heart age, explained
Your heart age is the age of a person with the same 10-year risk of heart attack or stroke as you, but with healthy blood pressure, cholesterol and no smoking or diabetes. If your heart age is higher than your real age, your risk factors are ageing your heart. This calculator uses the Framingham general cardiovascular risk model, built from 8,491 people followed for 12 years in the Framingham Heart Study.
Method: D’Agostino et al., Circulation 2008.
How to calculate your heart age
Enter your sex, age (30–74), systolic blood pressure (the top number), whether you take blood pressure medicine, total and HDL cholesterol, and whether you smoke or have diabetes. If you don’t know your cholesterol, the calculator uses typical values (total 200 mg/dL, HDL 50 mg/dL), so the result is less precise.
- 10-year risk. The Framingham equation combines your answers into your chance of a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event in the next 10 years.
- Heart age. The calculator then finds the age at which a person with ideal values (total cholesterol 180 mg/dL, HDL 45 mg/dL, untreated systolic blood pressure 125 mmHg, no smoking, no diabetes) would have the same risk.
Worked example. A 45-year-old man with blood pressure 125, total cholesterol 200, HDL 50, who doesn’t smoke and has no diabetes, has a 10-year risk of 5.7% and a heart age of 45.
| Profile at age 50 | Man: heart age (10-year risk) | Woman: heart age (10-year risk) |
|---|---|---|
| Good numbers (BP 115, cholesterol 170, HDL 60) | 43 (4.7%) | 40 (2.6%) |
| Typical numbers | 50 (7.8%) | 51 (4.5%) |
| Blood pressure 150 | 56 (10.9%) | 63 (7.3%) |
| Cholesterol 240, HDL 40 | 58 (11.6%) | 60 (6.4%) |
| Has diabetes | 61 (13.4%) | 69 (8.7%) |
| Smokes | 62 (14.5%) | 64 (7.5%) |
| Smokes, BP 150, cholesterol 240, HDL 40 | 80 (28.6%) | 94 (17.1%) |
What is a healthy heart age?
A heart age at or below your real age is a good result. The calculator labels your 10-year risk like this: under 5% low, 5–10% borderline, 10–20% intermediate and 20% or more high. These bands are a guide only; doctors may use different tools and cut-offs.
| Measure | Healthy target |
|---|---|
| Blood pressure | Under 120/80 mmHg is normal; 130/80 or higher is high blood pressure in US guidelines |
| Smoking | None. Smoking adds about 12 years to a 50-year-old man’s heart age on this calculator |
| Diabetes | Keep blood sugar in the range agreed with your doctor |
| Weight and activity | Not in the formula directly, but both lower blood pressure and improve cholesterol |
Most adults have a heart that is older than they are. Using a heart age model, the CDC estimated that about 3 in 4 US adults had a heart age higher than their real age, on average 7.8 years older for men and 5.4 years older for women (Yang et al., MMWR 2015).
How to lower your heart age
- Stop smoking. It is the single biggest change in this model. Our smoking calculator shows the years you could win back.
- Lower your blood pressure. Less salt, more activity, a healthy weight and less alcohol all help; many people also need medicine. Know your numbers: have your blood pressure checked at least once a year.
- Improve your cholesterol. Regular exercise raises HDL; cutting saturated fat lowers total and LDL cholesterol.
- Be active most days. At least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week (CDC). See your fitness age.
Heart age is one part of your overall picture. Try the biological age calculator and the full life expectancy calculator.
Heart age FAQ
What is heart age?
Heart age is the age of a person with the same risk of heart attack or stroke as you, but with healthy risk factors. A 50-year-old who smokes might have a heart age of 62.
How is heart age calculated?
This calculator uses the Framingham general cardiovascular risk model (D’Agostino et al., 2008). It works out your 10-year risk from age, sex, blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and diabetes, then finds the age at which a person with ideal values has the same risk.
What is a healthy heart age?
A heart age the same as or lower than your real age. In a CDC analysis, about 3 in 4 US adults had a heart age older than their real age.
Can I use the calculator without knowing my cholesterol?
Yes. Tick the option for unknown cholesterol and the calculator uses typical values. Your result will be less accurate, so a blood test is worth it.
Who is this calculator for?
Adults aged 30 to 74 who have not had a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular disease. If you already have heart disease, your doctor will assess your risk differently.
Does a family history of heart disease change my heart age?
This calculator doesn’t ask about it, because the Framingham equation it uses (D’Agostino 2008) has no family-history input. Family history still matters. In the Framingham Offspring Study (2,302 adults, average age 44, all free of heart disease), having at least one parent with early cardiovascular disease (before age 55 in a father or 65 in a mother) went with higher odds of a cardiovascular event over 8 years, even after allowing for blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and diabetes: about 2.0 times for men, and 1.7 times for women (a result that was not statistically certain). Parents whose disease started later added less. So if a parent had early heart disease, your real risk may be higher than your heart age suggests. Tell your doctor, who can take it into account.
Is heart age the same as “arterial age” from a calcium score?
No. Heart age here comes from risk factors (blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, diabetes). Arterial age comes from a coronary artery calcium (CAC) scan, a CT test of calcium in the heart’s arteries: it is the age that carries the same coronary heart disease risk as your calcium score. In the MESA study of 6,814 adults aged 45–84, about half had a score of zero, and arterial age could differ from real age by as much as 40 years. A calcium scan is a test your doctor orders; this calculator does not use it.
How much does heart disease shorten life expectancy?
It depends on how many conditions add up. A study pooling 91 cohorts (689,300 people) and checked in UK Biobank (499,808) found that a history of one of heart attack, stroke or diabetes roughly doubled the risk of death, any two roughly quadrupled it, and all three raised it about eight-fold. At age 60, any two of these meant about 12 years less life expectancy for men and 13 for women; all three meant about 14 and 16 years less. Losses were larger when the conditions started younger. These are population averages from past cohorts; treatment keeps improving, and your doctor can tell you what applies to you. This calculator is meant for people without heart disease.
Can I lower my heart age?
Yes. Quitting smoking, lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol all reduce your 10-year risk, and your heart age falls with it.
Last reviewed: · Sources · Educational estimate, not medical advice.
Sources
- D’Agostino RB Sr et al. General cardiovascular risk profile for use in primary care: the Framingham Heart Study. Circulation, 2008.
- Yang Q et al. Vital Signs: Predicted heart age and racial disparities in heart age among U.S. adults at the state level. MMWR, 2015.
- CDC. Adult Activity: An Overview.
- McClelland RL et al. Arterial age as a function of coronary artery calcium (from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis [MESA]). American Journal of Cardiology, 2009.
- The Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration. Association of cardiometabolic multimorbidity with mortality. JAMA, 2015;314(1):52–60.
- Lloyd-Jones DM et al. Parental cardiovascular disease as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in middle-aged adults: a prospective study of parents and offspring. JAMA, 2004;291(18):2204–11.