2023-08-23 09:25:47
Caption,
To what extent have my lack of exercise and imperfect diet affected the age of my heart?
Article informationAuthor, Pallab GhoshRole, BBC News
2 hours
A new artificial intelligence tool is able to reveal the extent to which alcohol consumption, smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise prematurely age an individual’s heart.
The goal is to find ways to reverse the aging of the heart and reduce the risks of many age-related conditions, such as stroke and heart disease.
The system was developed by a team led by Professor Declan O’Regan, from the London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS) which is part of the Medical Research Council (MRC).
And they offered me the opportunity to prove it.
“When we look at someone’s face, we are experts at judging whether they look young or old for their age. It is exactly the same with our organs,” Professor O’Regan told me.
“Some people have hearts that are much younger, and others have hearts that have aged prematurely and are more prone to disease. So we want to find out what those factors are.”
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The first step is an MRI following some light exercise.
I told Professor O’Regan that I had not led an unhealthy lifestyle but, like many people, I might improve my diet, lose some weight, and exercise more.
I also remembered that my childhood diet included large amounts of clarified butter.
An ingredient that my mother used to enhance the flavor of her delicious curries, rice and breads.
And to all this I have to add a family history of high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.
My South Asian genes also mean I have a higher risk of heart disease, so I wasn’t too optimistic regarding the outcome.
But, in the name of science, I decided to give it a try.
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My heartbeat was compared to that of 5,000 healthy patients of different ages.
There are many ways to measure heart health, including scans, electrocardiograms (ECGs), and knowing your blood pressure.
But these tests offer a snapshot of where things are right now, but they can vary from day to day or month to month.
The AI analysis, however, showed the impact and little things accumulated over a lifetime, due to alcohol use, smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise, Professor O’Regan told me.
The process involved having an MRI of my heart following some light exercise.
The first signs of premature aging can be so subtle that even expert cardiologists are unable to detect them.
Images of 40,000 people
But the artificial intelligence tool can, because it contains images of 40,000 people with different heart health conditions along with their health results.
The system analyzed hundreds of tiny details in the 3D motion of my MRI and compared them to those of 5,000 people of various ages who had led healthy lifestyles.
The tool calculated my heart age to be 63, just a couple of years older than my actual age, and the result wasn’t as dire as I feared.
I asked Professor O’Regan if this was because of some of the recent changes I had made to my lifestyle, such as exercising regularly and improving my diet.
I wanted to know if these new habits had contributed in any way to countering my childhood diet, beer and sedentary life from before.
image copyrightGetty Images
Caption,
The type of diet influences the health of your heart.
He told me that this is exactly what he wanted to find out in the next part of his research, which was published in the journal Nature Communications.
“We don’t know if the premature aging of the heart is due to genes and then you are born destined to have an older heart or if it is more due to your lifestyle,” Professor O’Regan told me.
“We also don’t know if the rate of aging can be changed or if it can be reversible. If so, this would allow those who receive appropriate treatment to return to a younger heart.”
reversing aging
An initial analysis revealed that genes associated with muscle elasticity (and the wrinkles that develop as people age) were a major factor.
Another set of genes, associated with the immune system, also played a role.
Immune cells fight disease and clean up dead tissue, but if they become overactive, they can rub too hard and cause inflammation, damaging the tissue.
And a third set of genes, involved in transporting electrical signals through the heart, also appears to play a role.
If this is disturbed in some areas, the heartbeat may be irregular.
By understanding the role of genes in the premature aging of the heart, it might be possible to develop treatments that target these mechanisms and help people live longer, healthier lives, Professor O’Regan told me.
“Genetics might help us slow or reverse aging, and these scans might also help design new therapies, to see what impact they are having on damage,” he added.
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