NEW YORK, March 27 — Is your heart older than you are? A tool from Joint British Societies allows people to test their heart’s “true age,” which subsequently provides an estimate regarding chances of heart disease later in life.

Entitled the JBS3 Risk Calculator, the tool works by calculating a person’s lifestyle habits, cholesterol level, blood pressure and medical conditions, any of which easily affect heart health. Examples of lifestyle factors include smoking, exercise and diet habits.

The calculator identifies those at risk for heart disease and predicts life expectancy before a stroke or heart attack occurs. According to LiveScience, researchers at Joint British Societies noted the increase in evidence regarding the long road to heart disease, and that knowing one’s heart’s real age can dramatically affect lifestyle choices. They pointed out that for most people, the calculator reveals the benefits from making healthy lifestyle changes early in life and maintaining such changes over time, with such changes recommended over prescription drug use.

The researchers’ new recommendations were published Wednesday in the medical journal Heart.

Try out the risk calculator: www.jbs3risk.com/pages/risk_calculator.htm — AFP/Relaxnews