How Can You Determine Your Arterial Age?

Written by Dr Saneka Chakravarty, MD, FACC. Dr Chakravarty is a board-certified cardiovascular disease specialist focused on personalized preventive cardiovascular care.

Cardiovascular health is one of the most important and most overlooked measures of overall wellness. Most of us know our chronological age, but far fewer know the condition of our arteries. That's where the idea of arterial age (also called vascular age or heart age) comes in: a way of understanding how healthy your blood vessels really are, not just how many birthdays you've had.

What Is Arterial Age?

Arterial age is an estimate of the biological condition of your arteries compared with the "average" person of a given age. Two people who are both 50 years old can have very different arteries: one may have vessels that function like a healthy 40-year-old's, while the other may have arteries closer to a 65-year-old's.

The reason this matters: aging arteries stiffen, lose elasticity, and accumulate plaque and calcium. These changes raise the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke (Hamczyk et al., Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2020). Because your true risk depends on the state of your vessels, not simply your birthdate, arterial age is often a more meaningful picture of cardiovascular health than chronological age alone (Cheong et al., Journal of Internal Medicine, 2021).

How Is Arterial Age Calculated?

There are two main approaches, and they measure somewhat different things:

1. Risk-factor-based estimates. Tools like the Framingham Risk Score convert standard risk factors : age, sex, blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking status, diabetes, and sometimes body mass index into an age equivalent. For example, a 61-year-old woman whose risk factors are worse than normal might have a "heart age" of 73 (Appiah and Capistrant, Scientific Reports, 2017). The gap between your heart age and your real age tells you how much of your risk is driven by modifiable factors (Hamamji et al., PLoS One, 2025).

2. Imaging- and measurement-based estimates. These look directly at the arteries:

• Coronary artery calcium (CAC) score uses a CT scan to detect calcified plaque. A CAC of 100, for instance, corresponds to an arterial age of roughly 73 years (Cheong et al., Journal of Internal Medicine, 2021).

• Pulse wave velocity (PWV) measures how fast the pressure wave travels through your arteries : the stiffer the vessel, the faster the wave. Carotid-femoral PWV is the most validated marker of arterial stiffness and independently predicts cardiovascular events (Usoltsev et al., Scientific Reports, 2025).

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One important caveat: risk-score-based vascular age and calcium-based vascular age don't always agree. Risk equations tend to overestimate vascular age in lower-risk people compared with what their actual coronary calcium shows (Vecsey-Nagy et al., Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2022). This is why arterial age is best interpreted with a clinician rather than treated as a single fixed number.

Why Knowing Your Arterial Age Matters

Framing risk as an "age" is powerful because it's intuitive. Being told your arteries are "12 years older than you are" often motivates change more effectively than an abstract percentage (Appiah and Capistrant, Scientific Reports, 2017). Knowing your arterial age can:

• Reveal hidden cardiovascular risk before symptoms appear.

• Help you and your doctor decide whether to intensify prevention (for example, lifestyle changes or cholesterol treatment).

• Provide a concrete benchmark to track your progress over time.

  
  

Lifestyle Steps Toward a Younger Arterial Age

The encouraging news is that arterial aging is at least partly reversible, and lifestyle is central.

Eat for your arteries. Mediterranean and DASH-style eating patterns, rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish, and olive oil, are linked to lower cardiovascular risk and improved arterial function (Hamczyk et al., JACC, 2020). In one randomized trial, a green-Mediterranean diet actually reduced aortic stiffness over 18 months (Tsaban et al., JACC, 2023). Reducing dietary sodium also lowers blood pressure and arterial stiffness (Townsend et al., Circulation[AHA Scientific Statement], 2015).

Move regularly. Aerobic exercise is one of the best-documented ways to slow vascular aging (Hamczyk et al., JACC, 2020). Higher daily step counts are associated with lower arterial stiffness , even in older adults (Metsämarttila et al., Scientific Reports, 2018). Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week, but check with your doctor before starting a vigorous program, particularly if you already have heart disease (Franklin et al., IJERPH, 2021).

Manage stress. Chronic psychological stress is associated with reduced artery elasticity and higher cardiovascular risk (Szaló et al., PLoS One, 2025). Regular physical activity and good cardiorespiratory fitness appear to buffer some of stress's harmful vascular effects (Griffin et al., PLoS One, 2025).

Don't smoke, and limit alcohol. Avoiding or quitting smoking and limiting excess alcohol are foundational to slowing vascular aging (Hamczyk et al., JACC, 2020).

Take Control of Your Arterial Age

You can't change your birthdate, but you have real influence over your arterial age. Regular check-ups, honest conversations with your clinician about whether a heart-age or calcium-score assessment is right for you, and consistent lifestyle habits can meaningfully shift the trajectory of your vascular health. It's never too late to start.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is arterial age a real medical measurement or just a marketing term? It's a genuine, research-based concept. Clinicians estimate it using validated tools such as the Framingham Risk Score, coronary calcium scoring, and pulse wave velocity (Cheong et al., Journal of Internal Medicine, 2021).

Q: How can I find out my arterial age?Talk to your healthcare provider. A "heart age" can be estimated from routine information (blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, diabetes). More direct measures , a coronary calcium CT scan or pulse wave velocity test, may be appropriate depending on your risk profile.

Q: Can my arterial age actually get younger?Functionally, yes. Diet, exercise, blood pressure control, and stopping smoking can improve arterial stiffness and endothelial function (Tsaban et al., JACC, 2023). Calcified plaque itself doesn't reverse, but slowing its progression and improving vessel function meaningfully lower risk.

Q: Do I need a CT calcium scan?Not everyone. Calcium scoring is most useful for people at borderline or intermediate risk, where it helps refine treatment decisions. Your clinician can advise whether it's worthwhile for you.

Q: How often should arterial age be reassessed?There's no universal interval. It's best repeated as part of periodic cardiovascular risk review with your doctor, especially after major lifestyle changes or new diagnoses.

Take the Next Step

Your arterial age is one of the most actionable numbers in medicine and you don't have to navigate it alone. Join the Preventiononly membership at www.preventiononly.com/membership for evidence-based tools, personalized guidance, and support to help you build habits that keep your heart and arteries young. Invest in your cardiovascular future today. Membership available currently to Ohio residents, while the app used to track your vascular health is available for download for all IOS users at the Apple store. Visit www.preventiononly.com/theapp for more details.

References

1. Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment in the United States and Low- and Middle-Income Countries Using Predicted Heart/Vascular Age. Appiah D, Capistrant BD. Scientific Reports. 2017;7(1):16673. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-16901-5.

2. Association of the 2019 Canada’s food guide food choices assessment score with 10-year cardiovascular disease risk and heart age in Canadian adults. Hamamji S, Zaltz D, L'Abbé MR. PloS One. 2025;20(10):e0331973. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0331973.

3. Biological Versus Chronological Aging: JACC Focus Seminar. Hamczyk MR, Nevado RM, Barettino A, Fuster V, Andrés V. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2020;75(8):919-930. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2019.11.062.

4. Correlation Between Coronary Artery Calcium- And Different Cardiovascular Risk Score-Based Methods for the Estimation of Vascular Age in Caucasian Patients. Vecsey-Nagy M, Szilveszter B, Kolossváry M, et al. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2022;11(4):1111. doi:10.3390/jcm11041111.

5. Coronary artery calcium scoring: an evidence‐based guide for primary care physicians. Cheong BYC, Wilson JM, Spann SJ, et al. Journal of Internal Medicine. 2021;289(3):309-324. doi:10.1111/joim.13176.

6. Recommendations for Improving and Standardizing Vascular Research on Arterial Stiffness: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Townsend RR, Wilkinson IB, Schiffrin EL, et al. Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979). 2015;66(3):698-722. doi:10.1161/HYP.0000000000000033.

7. Effect of Lifestyle Modification and Green Mediterranean Diet on Proximal Aortic Stiffness. Tsaban G, Shalev A, Katz A, et al. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2023;81(16):1659-1661. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2023.02.032.

8. Healthy ageing in older adults with cardiovascular disease. Schmanske N, Ngo JM, Kalra K, Nanna MG, Damluji AA. European Heart Journal. 2025;46(26):2536-2551. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf231.

9. Cardiorespiratory fitness attenuates the association between psychosocial stress and cardiometabolic risk – Results from the SCAPIS population. Griffin F, Fridolfsson J, Arvidsson D, Jonsdottir IH, Börjesson M. PloS One. 2026;21(3):e0345029. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0345029.

10. Effect of physical activity on pulse wave velocity in elderly subjects with normal glucose, prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes. Metsämarttila E, Rodilla E, Jokelainen J, et al. Scientific Reports. 2018;8(1):8045. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-25755-4.

11. Perceived stress is associated with impaired artery elasticity: An observational study from the Vara- Skövde cohort. Szaló G, Eriksson MCM, Hellgren M, et al. PloS One. 2025;20(11):e0336298. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0336298.

12. Chronic Stress, Exercise and Cardiovascular Disease: Placing the Benefits and Risks of Physical Activity Into Perspective. Franklin BA, Rusia A, Haskin-Popp C, Tawney A. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021;18(18):9922. doi:10.3390/ijerph18189922.

13. Interventions to promote cardiometabolic health and slow cardiovascular ageing. Fontana L. Nature Reviews. Cardiology. 2018;15(9):566-577. doi:10.1038/s41569-018-0026-8.