Your heart might be keeping a secret from you—and it’s not a good one. According to new research led by Northwestern Medicine and published in JAMA Cardiology, many American adults have hearts that are biologically older than the number on their driver's license.

This isn't just a metaphor for feeling worn out or tired. It’s a real, measurable difference in cardiovascular health, and the implications are serious. Using a new “heart age” calculator based on American Heart Association data, researchers found that the average American’s heart is several years older than their actual age. For many, especially men, people of color, and those with lower income or education levels, the gap is even wider—sometimes by over a decade. So, how do you know how old your heart really is? More importantly, what can you do about it?

What Is “Heart Age” and Why It Is Important?

Heart age is a simplified way to express your cardiovascular risk. Traditional risk assessments—like the American Heart Association’s PREVENT equations—typically offer percentages: your doctor might say you have a 10% risk of a heart attack over the next 10 years. But these statistics can feel abstract and hard to act on.

Dr. Sadiya Khan, professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at Northwestern University and senior author of the study, believes translating that risk into an “age” makes it more relatable. Telling someone their heart is 60 when they’re only 45? That hits differently.

“The exciting thing about this tool is that there are a lot of things people can do,” Khan said in a statement. “The hope is that this empowers people to optimise their heart health for healthier aging and longer health spans.”

Alarming Trends Across Demographics

The researchers analyzed health data from over 14,000 U.S. adults aged 30 to 79 who had no prior history of cardiovascular disease. They used a publicly available, free online tool to assess heart age based on several inputs: blood pressure, cholesterol levels, smoking status, diabetes, medications, and more. The results weren’t pretty:

• Women had an average heart age of 55.4, despite having an average chronological age of just 51.3.
• Men fared even worse, with an average heart age of 56.7 versus an actual age of 49.7.
• The disparities grew starker across race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic lines:
• Black men had hearts that were, on average, 8.5 years older than their chronological age.
• Hispanic men followed closely at 7.9 years.
• Black women had heart ages 6.2 years older than their actual age.

People with only a high school education or less were especially at risk, with nearly a third having hearts that were 10 years older than their birth certificates would suggest.

“This helps to highlight the need for more urgent action,” Khan said. “Identifying individuals who have an ‘older’ heart age can help prompt action to prioritise prevention in at-risk individuals.”

Why Your Heart Might Be Aging Faster Than You Are?

It boils down to a few key lifestyle and health factors: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, lack of exercise, poor diet, and unmanaged diabetes.

These factors quietly and persistently damage the cardiovascular system. Over time, this wear and tear increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, or heart failure—sometimes without obvious symptoms until it’s too late.

Khan and her team hope the heart age calculator will help make this silent damage more visible—and more actionable.

Can You Prevent Your Heart From Ageing?

Even if your heart is older than it should be, that’s not the end of the story. Cardiovascular aging isn’t fixed. In many cases, it can be slowed—or even reversed—with the right interventions. According to the researchers, key lifestyle changes that can bring your heart age closer to your real age (or even make it younger) include:

• Quitting smoking
• Improving diet (less sodium, more fruits and vegetables)
• Increasing physical activity (at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week)
• Managing high blood pressure and cholesterol with medications when needed
• Monitoring and treating diabetes effectively

But Dr Khan emphasizes that these actions aren’t just for those already diagnosed with heart disease. Younger adults, too, can benefit from understanding and addressing their heart age early—well before symptoms appear.

A Simple Online Tool With Major Potential

The free, public-facing heart age calculator developed by Khan’s team is already online and available to anyone. It takes just a few minutes and requires basic information like your age, sex, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and smoking status.

The idea is to encourage a shift from reactive to proactive care giving people a clearer sense of urgency before a heart event forces the issue.

“We hope this tool helps doctors and patients discuss risk for heart disease more effectively,” said Khan. “The important thing is that we have very good options available in our toolbox to help slow that aging down if we can identify it.”

Although this study focuses on the U.S., the implications are global. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. A tool like this, paired with access to routine health screenings and education, could help people across countries and cultures make better decisions about their long-term health.

In resource-limited settings where percentage-based risk assessments may not be widely understood, expressing risk through the lens of “heart age” could be a game-changer in preventive medicine.

Your heart might be working harder and aging faster than you realize but the power to slow—or even reverse—that process is in your hands. This new heart age calculator doesn’t just offer a number.

The liver and heart are two of the most vital organs of the body, and although they perform very different functions, they are closely connected. When the liver is not functioning properly, it can place significant stress on the heart and circulatory system of the body.

Liver disease not only affects the digestion process, metabolism, and detoxification but can also trigger serious cardiovascular changes that may go unnoticed in the early stages. Understanding this particular connection is significant for timely diagnosis and better overall care.

The Liver-Heart Connection

The liver helps to regulate the flow of blood, fluid balance, cholesterol metabolism, and inflammation as well. When liver disease develops—whether due to fatty liver, hepatitis, cirrhosis, or alcohol-related damage—all these processes become disturbed.

As a result of the same, the heart may have to work harder to maintain circulation, while blood vessels may also undergo certain changes that impact blood pressure and delivery of oxygen as well.

Changes In Blood Circulation

In well-advanced liver disease, especially cirrhosis, the flow of blood through the liver becomes restricted. This can also increase pressure in the portal vein, a condition known as portal hypertension. At the same point in time, blood vessels in the rest of the body may also widen, causing a drop in effective blood pressure.

To compensate, the heart pumps faster and harder. With the passage of time, this constant strain can weaken cardiac function and even lead to a condition sometimes referred to as cirrhotic cardiomyopathy, where the heart does not respond normally under stress.

Fluid Retention And Heart Stress

Liver disease often causes the body to retain both salt and water. This can also lead to swelling in the legs, abdomen, and surrounding tissues as well. Extra fluid in the body increases the workload on the heart, making it more difficult for it to pump blood in an efficient way. In severe cases, this may also contribute to shortness of breath, fatigue, and worsening cardiovascular strain.

Inflammation And Metabolic Impact

Some of the conditions, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, are also linked with diabetes, obesity, high levels of cholesterol, and high blood pressure – all of which are the major risk factors for heart disease. Chronic inflammation, well-associated with liver damage, may further increase the risk of atherosclerosis and other cardiac complications.

GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy have shown significant benefits for people with diabetes and obesity. However, not everyone experiences the same results.

Now, a study suggests that this variation may be due to genetic resistance, which means that some people are biologically less responsive to these medications, making these drugs less effective.

The new study by scientists at Stanford University in the US showed that about 10 per cent of the general population carry genetic variants that lead to what the researchers called “GLP-1 resistance”.

The GLP-1- receptor agonist drugs typically work by mimicking the hormone GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1), which naturally helps regulate blood sugar by stimulating insulin release. The process slows the emptying of the stomach and reduces appetite.

However, in individuals with certain genetic variants, the team found that higher levels of GLP-1 did not regulate blood sugar better.

The researchers noted that the findings, published in the journal Genome Medicine, may be key to developing new therapies for people with GLP-1 resistance.

“There are a whole class of medications that are insulin sensitizers, so perhaps we can develop medications that will allow people to be sensitized to GLP-1s or find formulations of GLP-1, like the longer-acting versions, that avoid the GLP-1 resistance,” said Anna Gloyn, professor of pediatrics and of genetics at Stanford Medicine.

The Gene Linked to GLP-1 Resistance

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To zero in on the gene resistant to GLP-1 drugs, the team conducted experiments in humans. They traced this resistance to a PAM variant known as p.S539W.

PAM (peptidyl-glycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase) is an enzyme that is uniquely capable of activating many hormones in the body, including GLP-1.

While the researchers suspected that people with the PAM variant would have lower levels of GLP-1 in their blood, it actually increased levels of GLP-1. Although the exact mechanism is still unclear, experiments in both humans and mice confirmed signs of reduced response to GLP-1.

Analyzing diabetes drug trial data, they found that individuals with these variants were less able to lower their blood sugar levels even after six months of treatment. This suggests that despite having more circulating GLP-1, their bodies are less responsive to it.

“When I treat patients in the diabetes clinic, I see a huge variation in response to these GLP-1-based medications and it is difficult to predict this response clinically,” said Mahesh Umapathysivam, an endocrinologist and clinical researcher at Adelaide University in Australia.

“This is the first step in being able to use someone’s genetic make-up to help us improve that decision-making process,” he added.

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Importantly, participants with the PAM variants did not respond differently to other common diabetes treatments, including sulfonylureas, metformin, and DPP-4i.

The finding may help develop precision medicine, the researchers said. Knowing ahead of time who is likely to respond would help patients get on the right drugs faster, Gloyn said.

Reasons Why Ozempic May Not Help All People Lose Weight

Ozempic is primarily indicated for type 2 diabetes management. But some doctors may prescribe it for weight loss in appropriate patients without diabetes.

Previous research has shown that medical conditions such as sleep apnea, along with certain common medications, such as antidepressants, steroids, and contraceptives, can hamper the process of shedding extra pounds.

Another major reason that can hamper weight loss is the side-effects of these drugs that can prompt a person to halt their prescription mid-way.

Once widely known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the common and dangerous fatty liver condition was rephrased as Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) due to its strong link to metabolic health issues like obesity and diabetes.

MASLD now includes patients with fatty liver disease linked to metabolic risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.

MASLD: So What Prompted The Change?

Globally, it was observed that all patients who have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease also have some associated form of metabolic dysfunction. The patients reported having either obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, or cholesterol problems.

And all these problems eventually lead to significant comorbidities later, like some people developed heart disease, while others developed complications of diabetes.

In view of these, a global consensus process in 2023 involving hundreds of experts from different countries adopted MASLD as it better reflected these underlying causes of the condition.

What Does MASLD Mean?

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MASLD is an umbrella term for liver conditions that develop in the presence of 1 or more cardiometabolic risk factors—including high blood sugar, elevated body mass index (BMI), and hypertension—but in the absence of other causes of liver fat accumulation.

The condition can be defined by excess liver fat accumulation (more than 5 per cent of liver weight) in the presence of metabolic dysfunction, independent of alcohol intake.

It encompasses a spectrum from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma.

“Initially, it was thought that having fatty liver disease without alcohol was a benign condition, but now it is recognized that, since it is associated with lots of metabolic comorbidities, it's no longer benign,” Dr. Ashish Kumar, Professor of gastroenterology and hepatology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi, told HealthandMe.

He stated that whenever a diagnosis of fatty liver is present, "we should actually include other comorbidities, like obesity, dyslipidemia, which means cholesterol problem, diabetes, sugar problem, pre-diabetes, and hypertension. At least 50–70–80 percent of these patients will have one or more of these comorbidities".

Why Alcohol Is Not The Only Culprit For Fatty Liver

Although alcohol has remained the number one risk for liver disease, MASLD seems to be rising globally, including among people who do not drink. Why?

The reasons include:

a sedentary lifestyle,

increased consumption of fast and processed food,

lack of exercise,

lack of sleep,

stressful life.

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The experts noted that food, especially the increasingly accessible junk food or processed food, is a major culprit.

“So even if the person is not drinking alcohol, people are developing addiction to processed food, and this is causing an epidemic level of obesity and diabetes. Consequently, MASLD is also increasing, and now it is becoming the number one cause of liver disease,” Dr Kumar said.

How To Prevent MASLD?

According to Dr. Sanjay Goja, Director, Liver Transplant & HPB Surgery, Narayana Hospital, Gurugram, prevention must focus on following a healthy lifestyle like maintaining a healthy BMI, engaging in regular physical activity, and eating a balanced diet.

Controlling diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure is also important to prevent the risk of MASLD.

Dr Siddharth Badola, Manipal Hospital, Ghaziabad, suggested sustainable lifestyle changes such as:

Maintaining an adequate body weight: Even slight weight loss (5–10 percent) has been shown to significantly reduce liver fat and inflammation.

Follow a balanced and nutrient-rich diet: People should focus on consuming whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats, while limiting refined carbohydrates and processed foods.

Avoid foods with added sugar: Excess consumption of fructose, commonly found in packaged foods and sugary beverages, is a key contributor to fat accumulation in the liver.

Engage in regular physical activity: At least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week is recommended to improve insulin sensitivity and liver health.

Manage associated metabolic conditions: Effective control of diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia is essential in reducing the risk of MASLD progression.

Ensure adequate sleep and stress management: Poor sleep quality and chronic stress can negatively impact metabolic balance and liver function.

Keep your body hydrated with ample water intake and follow structured meal timings.