- A new study reveals most American adults have hearts biologically older than their actual age, raising risks for heart attacks, strokes, and early death.
- Women’s hearts average 4.1 years older, while men’s are 6.9 years older, with Black men facing the highest disparity at 8.5 years older.
- Racial and socioeconomic disparities are significant, with Black and Hispanic adults and lower-income groups showing significantly higher premature heart aging.
- Researchers developed a free online heart age calculator using health metrics like blood pressure, cholesterol, and lifestyle factors to assess risk.
- Structural inequalities like poor healthcare access, chronic stress, and environmental factors contribute to the crisis, but treatments can reverse damage if detected early.
A groundbreaking new study published in JAMA Cardiology has exposed a silent epidemic: Most American adults have hearts that are biologically older than their actual age, dramatically increasing their risk of heart attacks, strokes and premature death.
The study, led by Northwestern University researchers, analyzed more than 14,000 adults aged 30 to 79 and found that, on average, women’s hearts were 4.1 years older than their chronological age, while men’s hearts were a staggering 6.9 years older. Even more alarming, black adults faced the highest risk, with black men’s hearts averaging 8.5 years older than their real age.
This shocking disparity highlights a critical failure in America’s healthcare system — one that disproportionately harms minorities and lower-income populations. The study’s authors developed a free online heart age calculator to help individuals assess their risk, but the real question is: Why are so many Americans suffering from premature heart aging in the first place?
The hidden crisis of premature heart aging
The study, spearheaded by Dr. Sadiya Khan, a cardiologist and professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, used a novel heart age calculator based on the American Heart Association’s PREVENT equations. The tool factors in health metrics like blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes status, smoking habits and socioeconomic factors to estimate biological heart age.
What they found was deeply troubling. Roughly 16 percent of women and 26 percent of men had hearts at least a decade older than their actual age, which is a red flag for cardiovascular disaster. “Even though many people in their thirties or forties may feel ‘too young’ to worry about their risk for heart disease, we know that risk can often be silent until it is too late,” Dr. Khan warned.
The data also revealed major racial disparities. Black women had hearts 6.2 years older than their chronological age, while Hispanic women averaged 4.8 years older. For men, the gaps were even wider: Black men’s hearts were 8.5 years older, Hispanic men’s 7.9 years older, and white men’s 6.4 years older. These numbers paint a grim picture of systemic healthcare neglect, particularly in marginalized communities.
The study wasn’t designed to prove causation, but the correlation between race, income, education and heart age is impossible to ignore. Among adults with no education beyond high school, 23 percent of women and 32 percent of men had hearts at least 10 years older than their real age. Similarly, 24 percent of women and 35 percent of men in the lowest income bracket faced the same elevated risk.
This suggests that structural inequalities such as lack of access to quality healthcare, food deserts, chronic stress, and environmental toxins are accelerating heart aging in vulnerable populations. “Having high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol can make someone’s heart age higher than their chronological age,” Dr. Khan explained. “But, there is good news because we have treatments that can help reverse it, too.”
The problem is, many at-risk individuals never receive those treatments. Whether due to distrust in the medical system, financial barriers, or lack of awareness, millions are walking around with ticking time bombs in their chests, and they're completely unaware of it.
Sources for this article include:
News.Feinberg.Northwestern.edu
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