Aging is a natural and permanent process that happens to all living beings. As time goes by, our cells get damaged, which causes our bodies and minds to become weaker. This makes us more likely to get sick and can increase the risk of dying. Not everyone ages the same way. Different parts of our bodies can age at different speeds, and things like our genes, where we live, and our habits can affect how we age [1].
What is Vascular Age?
Vascular age refers to the biological age of blood vessels, which reflects the structural and functional changes in the arteries as a person ages. Unlike chronological age, which is simply the number of years a person has lived, vascular age provides a more accurate picture of how well the blood vessels are functioning.
As people get older, they may experience impairments in endothelial function, reduced elasticity, and increased stiffness of their blood vessels. These changes can be accelerated by various risk factors, including:
- High blood pressure: This can strain the blood vessels, leading to stiffness.
- Impaired glucose homeostasis: Poor blood sugar control can damage blood vessels over time.
- Obesity: Excess body weight is linked to increased blood pressure and inflammation, affecting vascular health.
- High cholesterol: Elevated cholesterol levels can lead to plaque buildup in the arteries, reducing elasticity.
Age and other risk factors cause changes in the arteries. These changes make the artery walls stiffer and less able to handle normal blood flow. This stiffness leads to higher blood pressure, especially in small blood vessels in the brain, heart, and kidneys, which can damage these organs and make them work less effectively.
Vascular aging, marked by stiffer arteries, can reduce physical abilities, regardless of a person’s actual age. This means someone might be able to do things like a younger or older person based on how healthy their blood vessels are.
Understanding vascular age helps us see aging as a complicated process that affects our organs and tissues. Recognizing this can help researchers find ways to lower the risk of chronic diseases and improve overall health. Learning how vascular age develops and how risk factors influence it can help create strategies to prevent early vascular aging and its harmful effects [2].
How to Measure Vascular Age
Vascular age is mainly measured by assessing how stiff the arteries have become, as increased arterial stiffness is directly linked to the aging of the vascular system. Arterial stiffness is an important indicator of vascular health because it affects how blood flows through the body and can increase the risk of cardiovascular issues. As arteries age, they lose some of their elasticity, and this change disrupts normal blood flow, making it harder for the heart to pump blood efficiently. Measuring the stiffness of arteries gives doctors a way to assess a person’s “vascular age,” which can differ from their actual age based on their cardiovascular health.
One of the main ways to measure arterial stiffness, and thus vascular age, is through pulse wave velocity (PWV). PWV measures how quickly pressure waves move in the aorta. As arteries become stiffer, the pulse wave travels faster. A higher PWV indicates stiffer arteries, which is associated with older vascular age. Aortic PWV (PWVao) is the gold standard for assessing central arterial stiffness and gives valuable insight into vascular health, predicting the risk of cardiovascular events and overall longevity.
Moreover, as arteries age and stiffen, they disrupt normal blood flow. After each heartbeat (systole), pressure waves move through the large arteries, but at certain points where the arteries split or narrow, some waves bounce back. When arteries are stiffer, these reflected waves return faster, raising blood pressure during systole and lowering it during diastole. This increases the difference between these two pressures, known as pulse pressure [3].
Therefore, Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) and Aortic pulse pressure are two critical, indirect parameters for measuring vascular age by assessing arterial stiffness. Together, these measures provide valuable insights into the aging of the vascular system, offering a practical and non-invasive way to evaluate cardiovascular health and predict potential risks associated with vascular aging.
The Arteriograph, invented by Professor Miklós Illyés, is an advanced device that excels at evaluating cardiovascular health. It not only measures key factors related to vascular age, such as Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) and aortic pulse pressure, but it also assesses 12 other important factors to provide a complete view of cardiovascular health. This technology gives healthcare professionals invaluable insights into arterial health and overall cardiovascular function. As a result, the Arteriograph is recognized as the gold standard device currently available for non-invasive vascular assessment, making it an essential tool for the early detection and management of cardiovascular risks.
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