Eight health measures that can reduce the body’s ageing process by six years have been identified by experts in the US.
Scientists have said that good cholesterol, blood pressure, body weight and blood sugar management make people about six years younger biologically than their chronological age.
In addition, they have found that exercise, a healthy diet, not smoking and a good sleeping pattern can also slow down the ageing process.
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Researchers have revealed that these measures are linked with good heart health, which can slow down biological ageing by up to six years.
Academic Donald Lloyd-Jones said: “These findings help us understand the link between chronological age and biological age and how following healthy lifestyle habits can help us live longer.
“Everyone wants to live longer, yet more importantly, we want to live healthier longer so we can really enjoy and have good quality of life for as many years as possible.”
The American Heart Association (AHA) has developed Life’s Essential 8 – a tool that uses four modifiable lifestyle measures and four modifiable health markers to define heart health.
The scientists assess an individual’s biological age by examining their organ function, inflammation and metabolism.
According to the study, phenotypic age acceleration is the difference between one’s biological age and actual age, with higher values indicating faster biological ageing.
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Chief author Nour Makarem said: “We found that higher cardiovascular health is associated with decelerated biological ageing, as measured by phenotypic age.
“We also found a dose-dependent association – as heart health goes up, biological ageing goes down.”
Makarem added: “Greater adherence to all Life’s Essential 8 metrics and improving your cardiovascular health can slow down your body’s ageing process and have a lot of benefits down the line.”
