Biological Age Is a More Reliable Predictor of Heart Attack than Chronological Age
Research reported in January 2007 suggests that the age of your cells, not your calendar age, is what may best indicate your risk of heart attack and heart disease.
Every time a cell in the body replicates, the DNA string (the telomere) at one end of the chromosome gets shorter. When it gets too short, the cell dies.
Current scientific thought holds that this process is directly related to agingaging. Telomere shortening happens at different rates for different people. This suggests that our chronological age (the number of years since our birth) is different from our biological age (as measured by telomere shortening).
Does our “biological age” really predict death and disease? Scott W. Brouilette, PhD, and colleagues have previously shown that telomere length in people who have heart attacks before age 50 and in people who are candidates for triple bypass surgery tends to be shorter than telomere length in healthy people of the same age and sex.
Fortunately, there is some solace for folks with advanced biological age. New research suggests that statins may lower the risk of heart-health problems. Read more here.
Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King
Tags: biological-age, chronological-age, Health, Heart-Attack, heart-disease, predict, statins, woman, women, Womens-HealthRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Aging, Heart Health
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