A word to all the Gujarati brethren of the country: Being young at heart is no longer just an expression. It could save your life. A 2015 study published in QJM: An International Journal of Medicine says that Gujarati hearts may be ageing faster their bodies, which can increase their risk for a whole lot of heart diseases. The researchers studied 2,483 individuals from Gujarat state, who had never had a history of health problems before they arrived at the conclusion that Gujarati Asians may be subjected to premature ageing of the heart where their hearts are ageing ten years faster than their body.

What is Heart Age?

Certain factors like bad diet and a lack of exercise make your heart age at a faster rate than your body, which can leave you susceptible to heart attacks and strokes. Cardiologists use tools such as Framingham Study Heart Calculator to find out the age of your heart. It helps them assess your risk for heart diseases. The age is calculated based on your risk factors such as family history, diet, physical exercise and habits such as smoking. Individuals between the ages of 30 and 74 who have no history of cardiovascular illnesses like stroke, heart attacks, peripheral artery diseases or heart failure can get their cardiovascular age calculated.

What Does The Study Say?

The research was conducted after cardiologists saw a spike in the number of young patients in their 30s and 40s with serious heart problems. Dr. Kamal Sharma who is the first author of the study told The Times of India that 40 percent of the patients with episodes of heart diseases were all in their 30s and 40s. This observation triggered to research to confirm whether heart ageing was accelerated among the Gujaratis.

The study was carried out by cardiologists at UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology revealed that the arteries and veins supplying blood to the heart have been ageing at the accelerated rate. The researchers used a Framingham vascular age calculator to evaluate major risk factors like blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and obesity.

According to the study, the mean chronological age of the study population was 46.8 years, but their cardiac age was 53.34 years. The Gujarati subjects in the study had elevated levels of lipids or fats in the blood, had hypertension and carried extra weight around the waist. These factors increased their risk of heart diseases and accelerated heart ageing. More men (66.2 percent) than women were susceptible.

How Can You Decrease Heart Age?

But when it comes to cardiac age, there is no need to lose heart (pun intended). Accelerated cardiac ageing is an evitable repercussion of a bad lifestyle, but it can always be reversed by adopting the right lifestyle. Eating a healthy, balanced, heart-friendly diet should be the first step. Staying physically active and discontinuing habits that harm your heart, like smoking and drinking.

Additionally, experts believe that you can reduce your heart age by adopting a DASH diet to lower your blood pressure, improving your cholesterol profile, losing weight and bringing your blood sugar levels under control. Wondering what your heart age is? Try this tool.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 29, 2018 12:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).