If someone were to ask you the age of your heart, you may wonder if it’s a trick question. After all, how can one of your body parts be older than you? If you’re 47 years old, doesn’t that mean your heart is 47 as well? Technically, you’re right. However, some hearts lead tougher lives than others and get old before their time.
Your heart’s age is not based on calendar age but on the condition of your heart and blood vessels. So if you’re 47, it’s possible your heart’s age may be 40, 50, 60 or even older.
Read on for answers to common questions about how your heart changes with age, how you can determine how old your heart is, and what you can do to reduce your heart’s age.
Are there differences in how your heart functions by age?
Your heart pumps blood and oxygen to the rest of your body by squeezing and then relaxing, something it does about 100,000 times each day. And, it’s always changing to make sure your body has the amount of blood you need – adjusting blood pressure, flow and volume based on what you’re doing, your heart’s health and your age.
A human heart grows through childhood, reaching its full size when a child stops growing. But that doesn’t mean the heart stops changing. By the time you’re 20 years old, your heart’s function can begin to decline as a normal part of aging.
Here’s what happens as the heart and your circulatory system age:
Your heart works more slowly
As you age, it takes longer for your heart to squeeze and relax – by as much as 2-5% per year.
Your heart can’t pump as powerfully
With each year that passes, your heart pumps less blood. When you’re 20 years old, your heart pumps up to four times its resting capacity – every minute. But, by the time you’re 80 years old, your heart only pumps twice its resting capacity during the same amount of time.
Your heart muscle shrinks
Part of what contributes to your heart’s reduced pumping power is loss of muscle. A heart can lose about 0.3 grams (or about one hundredth of an ounce) of muscle yearly. While it doesn’t seem like much, it’s important to remember that an average woman’s heart is about 8 ounces and an average man’s heart is around 10 ounces.
The left ventricle gets thicker
The walls of the left ventricle (the main pumping chamber) become thicker and stiffer as you age. This changes how much blood your heart can handle and how well your heart can pump blood through the blood vessels.
The mitral valve gets stiffer
The mitral valve helps control blood flow through the left side of the heart. When the mitral valve gets stiffer, it closes more slowly, increasing the chance that blood may flow the wrong way.
Exercise capacity goes down
Your heart rate gets slower as you age, which is why there are such large differences in exercise heart rate zones by age. The target heart rate for vigorous exercise is much lower for an 80-year-old (90-110 bpm) compared to a 20-year-old (140-170 bpm).
Your arteries clog up
As you age, it’s more likely that your arteries are narrowed by plaque building up in their walls. This condition, called atherosclerosis, makes it harder for oxygen-rich blood to get to the rest of your body.
How does age increase your chance of heart disease?
Your chance of heart disease significantly increases with age, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). The following chart includes the average chance of heart attack and coronary heart disease by age and gender.
For a personalized result, use the cardiovascular risk calculator on the AHA website to see how your gender, age, race and risk factors can influence your chance of cardiovascular disease.
Heart disease and risk of heart attack by age and gender
| Age and gender | Coronary heart disease | Heart attack |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 20 to 39 – men | 0.6% | 0.4% |
| Ages 20 to 39 – women | 0.9% | 0.4% |
| Ages 40 to 59 – men | 6.9% | 3.2% |
| Ages 40 to 59 – women | 6.6% | 1.9% |
| Ages 60 to 79 – men | 22.0% | 12.6% |
| Ages 60 to 79 – women | 13.4% | 4.5% |
| Age 80 and older – men | 33.9% | 15.8% |
| Age 80 and older – women | 21.6% | 8.7% |
What causes your heart to age faster than the rest of you?
The goal is to have a heart that’s the same age or younger than you. But the average American adult has a heart that’s older than they are. Below, we explain the risk factors that can lead to your heart aging faster than it should.
Health risk factors and heart age
Your heart’s age increases if you smoke, eat poorly, don’t exercise enough, or have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or obesity. Approximately 75% of all heart attacks and strokes link back to these risk factors.
High blood pressure strains your heart muscle, which can lead to heart failure. High cholesterol narrows your arteries and smoking causes blood to clot your heart’s arteries. All of this, in essence, ages your heart and puts you at risk of developing symptoms of heart disease.
Learn more about aging and maintaining a healthy heart from cardiologist Joseph Browning on the following episode of the For Health’s Sake podcast.
Gender and heart age
The average man has a heart that is 8 years older than he is. In comparison, women have hearts that are, on average, 5 years older than their actual age.
Race and heart age
On average, African-American men and women have hearts that are 11 years older than their actual ages. They are also more likely to have risk factors for a higher heart age, including smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.
How to reduce your heart age and improve your heart health
It’s possible to reverse the age of your heart. Here are the most effective things you can do to keep your heart healthy:
- Stop smoking or using tobacco. Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your heart – and for your overall health.
- Improve your eating habits. Get in the habit of eating a heart-healthy diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats such as olive oil and nuts. When possible, eat freshly prepared foods and avoid highly processed foods that have lots of preservatives and added sugar.
- Eliminate or cut back on alcohol. If you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, you can improve your numbers by limiting how much alcohol you drink. Both men and women should aim for no more than seven drinks each week.
- Exercise regularly. Adopt a routine of daily physical activity. Thirty minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week is a good goal. Walking, swimming, moderate strength training and yoga are all examples of heart healthy exercises.
- Manage your medical conditions. If you need help controlling your blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes, work with your doctor and health care team.
- Watch your weight. If you are overweight, dropping a few pounds can have a big impact on your risk factors for heart disease. Sometimes all it takes is 5-10 pounds. But talk to your doctor about what makes sense for your health.
- Pay attention to your mental health. Practicing gratitude, kindness and mindfulness will help you feel better – and may also help limit the negative effects of stress on your heart. Plus, feeling better about yourself will make you want to work to reduce your heart age.
- Talk to your doctor about aspirin for your heart. Taking a low-dose aspirin may reduce the chance of heart attack in people with significant risks for heart disease. But aspirin therapy isn’t for everyone. So, make sure you talk to your doctor first.
- Focus on your goals. Make a list of your long-term goals and the steps you need to take to achieve them. Then put them on your refrigerator or somewhere visible as a reminder. Or, make a list of the people and situations that lead you to make healthy and unhealthy decisions. It can help to spend more time with the people and in the situations that nudge you to make healthy decisions.
How can you learn your heart age?
The truth is there’s no easy way to determine your heart health and heart age. There are a variety of heart age calculators available online – and it can be interesting to plug in your information and get an idea of how old (or young) your heart is. But it’s important to remember that these calculators provide results based on limited information and are not a substitute for your doctor’s advice.
Heart tests and screenings
Your doctor can recommend heart tests and screenings that are appropriate for you. These can include tests for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or other conditions that are causing your heart to age faster. So, make sure to keep up with preventive care such as your annual exam.