How old is your heart?

[Tringa]

This was on the BBC website this morning -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45395576

It includes a test to estimate how old is your heart.

Most, if not all, online tests are probably better taken with a pinch of salt (though not too much or it could increase your blood pressure), but this one seems even more useless than most.

It asks the usual questions - age, weight, height, smoking, and some others about if you have had certain diseases; and cholesterol levels and blood pressure. I completed it (I and no members of my family have had any of the diseases mentioned and I don't know my cholesterol levels and blood pressure) and it decided my heart's age is 74 - seven years older than my chronological age. I reckoned this is to do with me being overweight with a BMI of 26.

I played about with the test by putting in different weighs until my heart age was the same as my current age.

According to this test if I weighed 36kg (and therefore had a BMI of 11.1 my heart and I would have the same age! I could read that as I should consider reducing my weight dramatically.

Seems this is a useless test. While I can see cholesterol levels and blood pressure measurements are important it asked nothing about alcohol consumption, eating habits or exercise.

The only good thing I can see in the test is there is an encouragement to get your cholesterol levels and blood pressure tested.

Dave

 

[nilagin]

It doesn't take into account how body mass is made up. My BMI is 32.1 according to the test and would be considered obese on that basis alone. But BMI doesn't always paint a true picture. Unfortunately I don't know my blood pressure nor my cholesterol but I would expect both to be just fine.
I would have expected there to have been questions about diet, exercise etc.
For an almost 56yr old, my heart age result is 67 and I am likely to be 78 before suffering a heart attack.

Last medical I had at work was over 5yrs ago. My blood pressure was fine and at 50 my lung capacity was that of a 29yr old. I doubt it is much different now.

 

[woodworm]

I'm 45 and overweight, didn't know my blood pressure or cholesterol and it said my heart age is 47 and I should live until 79!

If I reduced my weight, sorted out my blood pressure and cholesterol I would live until I'm 80 (presumably when I die of boredom)

 

[Suvv]

The article says tht 4 out of 5 adults could die early due to unhealthy lifestyles, so how do they work out what a normal aged heart should be? Normal is surely an average and if 80% have a risk of dying early then surely that is no longer early, it is normal!
To be fair the article does say that it is not diagnostic but a wake-up call, it has been around for some time as has the website QRisk2 which my GP used.
Incidentally I have a heart age of 64, at 70 years old that's not too bad.