What's your heart's real age? Take the quiz

Daily Mail

1 Oct, 2016 03:30 AM2 mins to read

In the worst cases, men and women in their mid-40s had hearts typical of 60-year-olds, scientists found. Photo / 123RF

Are you worried your heart is much older than you are and that you're on the verge of having a heart attack?

Well a test can estimate the age of your ticker, as well as revealing how long you can expect to live without having a heart attack or a stroke.

But a new update to the 16-question tool offers advice and interventions to help lower the vital organ's age and keep you alive for longer.

Produced by NHS Choices and the British Heart Foundation, the Heart Age Tool asks for information about your age, gender, height and weight.

It also seeks to know where you live, whether you're an active smoker and your ethnicity - all factors that impact the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

The free tool - initially launched last year - also scours for information about your cholesterol levels, blood pressure and whether or not you have any other conditions that increase your risk.

Take the quiz here

It is designed to work on people aged 30 or older who have not already been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.

The updated tool comes after new research found four in five people have hearts much older than they are due to a poor lifestyle.

In the worst cases, men and women in their mid-40s had hearts typical of 60-year-olds, scientists found.

A worrying 89 per cent of men below 40 had unhealthy hearts, compared with just 41 per cent of women, researchers discovered.

Johanna Ralston of the World Heart Federation said: 'The Heart Age Tool is an extremely useful wake-up call for people to implement those simple lifestyle changes that can improve their heart age and their wellbeing.'

Jamie Waterall of Public Health England said: 'Even though you may not have symptoms, having a heart age higher than your own age indicates an increased risk of serious illness.