You may already know that blood pressure and even your resting heart rate both tend to change with age.
But what about the age of your heart itself? According to the British Heart Foundation, it’s possible for the organ to act “older” than you really are ― meaning it’s less healthy than it should be.
Metrics like your cholesterol levels and blood pressure are a really good way to tell how your heart is faring.
But if you’re just a little curious as to your risk, the foundation teamed up with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and the NHS to create a simple test that can gauge your heart health in a matter or minutes.
How does it work?
You don’t have to fill in the blood pressure or cholesterol entries if you don’t know what yours are, but that’ll make the results a bit less accurate.
It’s only suitable for people aged 30-95 without an existing heart condition.
The test even asks for your postcode, which a Department of Health and Social Care privacy notice says it generalises once it’s in the system to give a more vague idea of your location.
Where you live has more of an effect on your overall heart health than you might think, the British Heart Foundation shared.
The test also asks about your ethnicity, smoking status, medical history, and family medical history.
It takes a couple of minutes to fill out; when you’re at the end of the questionnaire, you can just hit “calculate” and see how old your heart likely acts.
The results will tell you how long, on average, a person with your stats lives without getting a heart attack or stroke, as well as which metrics you can improve on.
What if my heart age is older than I’d like?
The results should tell you if, where, and how you can improve your heart health.
If your cholesterol or blood pressure results aren’t healthy, you should have spoken to your GP about how to manage them; do so now if you haven’t already.
You can also find support with things like losing weight and stopping smoking through the NHS if needed.
If you’re generally worried about your cardiovascular health, see your GP, who can administer various tests like a cholesterol blood test.
You can get your blood pressure taken at participating pharmacies.