A new MRI-based method from UEA reveals your heart’s true functional age, spotting early signs of disease and offering new hope for prevention.
MRI technology
reveals that unhealthy lifestyles can prematurely age your heart by decades.
Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have
created a powerful new way to uncover your heart’s true age using a simple MRI
scan.
This breakthrough can reveal how well your heart is
actually functioning, not just how old you are on paper. And for people with
unhealthy habits or conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes, the
results might be a wake-up call.
The new research shows that lifestyle choices can
dramatically speed up how fast your heart ages, but now, doctors may be able to
catch warning signs before it’s too late.
The team calls their new method a true “game changer”
and could help millions prevent heart disease before symptoms even begin.
Lead researcher Dr. Pankaj Garg, from UEA’s Norwich
Medical School and a consultant cardiologist at the Norfolk and Norwich
University Hospital, said: “Imagine finding out that your heart is ‘older’ than
you are. For people with conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, or
obesity, this is often the case.
“Our new MRI approach doesn’t just count your
birthdays – it measures how well your heart is holding up.”
Led by UEA, the research team collaborated with
hospitals in the UK, Spain, and Singapore. They studied MRI scans from 557
people – 191 healthy individuals and 366 with conditions like high blood
pressure, diabetes, or obesity.
How the Technique Works
Using advanced imaging, they measured things like the
size and strength of the heart’s chambers. Then, they built a formula to
calculate the heart’s ‘functional age’ and checked it against healthy hearts to
make sure it was accurate.
Dr. Garg said:
“We found that an MRI scan can reveal your heart’s ‘functional age’ — how old
it acts, not how old you are. In healthy people, we found that heart age was
similar to chronological age. But for patients with things like diabetes,
hypertension, obesity, and atrial fibrillation, their functional heart age was
significantly higher.
He continues, “For example, a 50-year-old with high
blood pressure might have a heart that works like it’s 55. People with health
issues like diabetes or obesity often have hearts that are aging faster than
they should — sometimes by decades. So, this could help doctors step in early
to stop heart disease in its tracks. This is a game-changer for keeping hearts
healthier, longer.”
Implications for Prevention and
Public Health
Dr. Garg states, “Heart disease is one of the world’s
biggest killers. Our new MRI method gives doctors a powerful tool to look
inside the heart like never before and spot trouble early — before symptoms
even start. By knowing your heart’s true age, patients could get advice or
treatments to slow down the aging process, potentially preventing heart attacks
or strokes.”
“It could also be the wake-up call people need to take
better care of themselves — whether that’s eating healthier, exercising more,
or following their doctor’s advice. It’s about giving people a fighting chance
against heart disease,” he added.
PhD Student Hosam Assadi, also from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “It’s thrilling to see how this MRI technique could change lives. We’ve found a way to spot hearts that are aging too fast, and that could mean catching problems early enough to fix them. I hope this could become a standard check-up for hearts in the future.”
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