About the Heart Age Calculator
This heart age calculator turns your cardiovascular risk factors into an easy-to-grasp number: the age of a person whose heart and blood vessels carry the same risk as yours but whose blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and diabetes status are all in the normal range. If you are 50 but your heart age is 66, your risk of a heart attack or stroke over the next ten years is what a healthy 66-year-old would have.
It uses the Framingham Heart Study general cardiovascular disease risk equation (D’Agostino and colleagues, Circulation 2008), lipid version, with the same "normal" reference values as the study’s own calculator: systolic blood pressure 125 mmHg without treatment, total cholesterol 180 mg/dL, HDL 45 mg/dL, no smoking and no diabetes. It also shows your predicted 10-year risk of any cardiovascular event — coronary death, heart attack, angina, stroke, heart failure or peripheral artery disease.
The equation was developed in adults aged 30 to 74 without existing heart disease, mostly white Americans; it can over- or underestimate risk in other populations. Use recent lab results, and treat the result as a conversation starter with your doctor rather than a diagnosis.
With the default inputs, the heart age is 72 years. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the heart age calculator
- 1Select your sex and enter your age (30–74).
- 2Enter your systolic blood pressure and say whether you take blood pressure medication.
- 3Mark whether you currently smoke or have diabetes.
- 4Enter total and HDL cholesterol from a recent blood test, in mg/dL or mmol/L.
- 5Compare your heart age with your real age and your risk with the normal and optimal profiles.
Formula and method
Σβx is the sum of each coefficient times its risk factor: β_age × ln(age) + β_TC × ln(total cholesterol) + β_HDL × ln(HDL) + β_SBP × ln(systolic BP), plus fixed amounts for smoking and diabetes. Men: β_age 3.06117, β_TC 1.12370, β_HDL −0.93263, β_SBP 1.93303 untreated or 1.99881 treated, smoking 0.65451, diabetes 0.57367, S₀ = 0.88936, mean 23.9802. Women: 2.32888, 1.20904, −0.70833, 2.76157 or 2.82263, 0.52873, 0.69154, S₀ = 0.95012, mean 26.1931.
Heart age solves for the age at which a person with normal risk factors (SBP 125 untreated, TC 180 mg/dL, HDL 45 mg/dL, non-smoker, no diabetes) has the same Σβx — and therefore the same risk — as you. Because only the age term differs, heart age = age × exp((your factor terms − normal factor terms) ÷ β_age). mmol/L values are converted with 1 mmol/L = 38.67 mg/dL. Heart ages beyond 30–80 are shown as a range because the conversion is not meaningful there.
- S₀
- 10-year baseline survival for the sex
- Σβx
- Sum of coefficients × (log-transformed) risk factors
- β_age
- Coefficient on ln(age)
- TC, HDL
- Total and HDL cholesterol in mg/dL
Worked examples
50-year-old male smoker, BP 140, TC 220, HDL 45
His risk-factor terms are 1.1237 × ln 220 − 0.93263 × ln 45 + 1.93303 × ln 140 + 0.65451 for smoking. Compared with the normal profile that is 1.0991 higher, so heart age = 50 × exp(1.0991 ÷ 3.06117) ≈ 71.6. His 10-year risk is 21.3%, against 7.7% for a 50-year-old man with normal risk factors.
55-year-old woman, BP 130, TC 200, HDL 60, non-smoker
Her slightly higher blood pressure and cholesterol are almost exactly offset by a protective HDL of 60, so her heart age is about 56 — within a year of her real age. Her 10-year risk is 5.4%.
45-year-old man with healthy numbers
With blood pressure, total cholesterol and HDL all better than the normal reference values and no smoking, his heart age is about 40 — five years younger than he is — and his 10-year risk is 3.9%.
62-year-old woman with treated BP and diabetes (mmol/L)
TC 5.5 mmol/L = 212.7 mg/dL and HDL 1.3 mmol/L = 50.3 mg/dL. Treated systolic pressure of 145 plus diabetes push her 10-year risk to 28.1%, four times the 6.9% of a 62-year-old woman with normal factors — a heart age beyond 80.
Frequently asked questions
What does heart age mean?+
Heart age (also called vascular age) is the age of a person with the same predicted cardiovascular risk as you but with normal blood pressure, cholesterol, no smoking and no diabetes. A heart age above your real age means your risk factors are adding years of risk.
Is heart age the same as the ASCVD risk score?+
No. This tool uses the 2008 Framingham general CVD equation, which counts a broader set of outcomes including heart failure and peripheral artery disease. The ACC/AHA pooled cohort (ASCVD) equations predict hard atherosclerotic events only and give different numbers.
How can I lower my heart age?+
The biggest levers in the equation are smoking, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol and HDL. Stopping smoking, lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol through diet, activity, weight management or treatment your doctor recommends all reduce the predicted risk.
Why is the age limited to 30–74?+
The Framingham general CVD equation was derived from participants aged 30 to 74 who were free of cardiovascular disease at baseline. Outside that range, or if you already have heart disease, the predictions are not valid.
Does taking blood pressure medication raise my score?+
Yes, slightly. The equation uses a larger coefficient for treated blood pressure, because people who need treatment have higher underlying risk than untreated people with the same reading.
For healthcare professionals and education only. This calculator implements a published formula or score but is not a diagnosis and does not replace clinical judgment. Verify inputs and results against the original source before using them in patient care.