Essential
- Scientists from the University of East Anglia have developed a new MRI method that determines the real age of the heart.
- They discovered that people suffering from hypertension, diabetes or obesity, have a heart that ages faster.
- Their new MRI method could help identify people with risk of heart disease and thus act before it becomes serious.
Does your heart age too quickly? A new test that is based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is capable of determining the functional age of the organ, and therefore the risks of heart disease.
Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) behind this diagnostic method presented their work in the journalOpen European Heart Journal of May.
Hypertension, diabetes, obesity: these disorders come to age the heart
“Our new MRI approach does not only count your birthdays: it also measures the resistance of your heart”says Dr. Pankaj Garg, principal researcher at the Norwich Faculty of UEA Norwich. To develop it, the cardiologist and his colleagues studied the MRI of 557 people who presented hospitals in the United Kingdom, Spain and Singapore. 191 people were in good health and 366 suffered from hypertension, diabetes or obesity.
Thanks to advanced imaging which allows you to see the interior of the heart very precisely, they measured different parameters such as the size and resistance of the cardiac cavities in all volunteers. The researchers then developed a formula making it possible to know the real age of the hearts of the patients, then compared it to that of the participants without concern for health.
“We have discovered that an MRI can reveal the functional age of your heart, that is to say the age like which it acts, and not the age you have. In healthy people, we have found that heart age was similar to chronological age. On the other hand, in patients with diabetes, hypertension, obesity and atrial fibrillation, functional cardiac age was significantly higher. A 50 -year -old person suffering from high blood pressure can have a heart that works as if he was 55 years old “said Dr Garg in a press release.
Identify “older” hearts to reduce cardiovascular risks
Researchers note that the hearts of people with health problems such as diabetes or obesity, ages faster than it should … Sometimes it displays several additional decades. This new imaging method could, according to them, help identify patients with risks of heart disease.
“By knowing the real age of your heart, patients could obtain advice or treatments to slow down the aging process, thus potentially preventing heart attacks or strokes”underlines the researcher.
“This could also be an alarm signal so that everyone takes care of them more, whether by eating healthier, doing more exercise or following the advice of their doctor. It is a question of giving people a chance to fight against heart disease.”
