Cardiologists at the University of Wisconsin Medical School have developed mathematical equations to calculate a person’s vascular age to provide a more accurate assessment of developing heart disease or having a stroke.
“A person’s age can be calculated by chronological age and vascular age,” Maureen Mays said, a vascular-imaging research fellow who has been on the team for almost one year.
Associate director of UW Health and Vascular Care Preventative Cardiology Program James Stein, together with Mays and three other special ultrasoundographers, developed mathematical equations to calculate a person’s vascular age.
The tools that calculate the vascular age based on blood pressure, cholesterol, chronological age and family history are very accurate because the thickness of the vessels are measured in very precise increments.
“We measure the thickness of artery walls through taking pictures from those grant computers we have,” Mays explained. “Then we can calculate the vascular age with the equation Dr. Stein has come up with. After that, we can compare with the patients’ age, gender and race.”
Mays said that thicker vascular walls increase the risk of stroke or heart attack, which kills more Americans every year than any other health problem.
“Through offering this service, we can help the people to know their risks and be healthier,” Mays said.
“Vascular age is a tool that can give clinicians a more precise understanding of a patient’s risk, eliminating some of the uncertainty,” Stein said. “It can help us identify and treat people before they have a heart attack or stroke.”
He also said that vascular age calculations are an important communication tool that helps doctors to better explain risks to their patients.
“For example, a person who is 60 years old chronologically has the same thickness of arteries of one who is 50 years old,” Mays said. “It means the risk that this person has is lower than the other’s.”
According to Mays, other researchers in North Carolina and Los Angeles have launched similar studies, but UW was the first research group in the Midwest to provide vascular-health screening.
Currently, UW Health provides vascular-health screening, which involves two unique tests that are recommended by the American Heart Association. These tests provide patients with a benchmark of their heart and vascular risk and counseling to improve their health.
The program is for people between 40 and 70 years old without known heart disease. Vascular-health screening improves assessment of cardiovascular risk, particularly in individuals who smoke or who have a family history of heart disease, cholesterol disorders, high blood pressure or diabetes.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation patented the vascular-age equations. The Foundation is a non-profit agency that manages intellectual property developed by UW researchers.
Heart and vascular diseases is the No. 1 killer of women and men. Nearly 2,600 Americans die of heart and vascular disease each day, an average of one death every 33 seconds. Heart and vascular disease claims more lives each year than the next five leading causes of death combined.
