Everything we do—diet, exercise

Everything we do—diet, exercise Similar warnings can come from deriving vascular age from a CT scan that detects accumulation of calcium in the coronary arteries, or on an ultrasound test known as CIMT (for carotid intima media thickness) that measures the thickness of the inner lining of the carotid arteries in the neck. NHL jerseys

Typically, results of these tests are expressed in percentiles and risk probabilities, which "human beings don't understand at all," says Dr. Lloyd-Jones. For instance, a Framingham score may indicate someone has a 7% chance, or low risk, of having a heart attack in the next 10 years. "If I say you are 45, but you have the risk of an otherwise healthy 67-year-old,' that somehow gets in our brain better" than a percentage risk, he says.

Dr. Lloyd-Jones cautions that there isn't evidence linking a calculation of artery age directly to what's actually going on inside a patients' vessels. But, he says, "We hope this is another way to get patients to pay attention to their lifestyle and adhere to medicines if they need them."

Peter Tripoli is a case in point. A few weeks ago, the 50-year-old vice president of a software firm experienced shortness of breath and chest pain. Several tests didn't find any evidence of obstruction, but he went to Dr. Donohue's clinic in Washington, Pa., for a checkup with Linda Gordon, a nurse practitioner.

Mr. Tripoli, thick around the waist, acknowledged he had gained 40 pounds in the past three years. During the same time, his total cholesterol jumped to 249 from 192.

Mrs. Gordon took his blood pressure, which was 98/70, consistent with prior readings, he said, and well within healthy recommended levels of below 120/80. "If I don't get this blubber off me, it won't stay that way," he said. He said he just needed a little motivation.

Mrs. Gordon punched Mr. Tripoli's risk-factor numbers and other data into a software program she developed called Intimal Health. Based on evidence from clinical studies, it prints out recommendations customized to each patient as a guide to healthy habits that can help rejuvenate their arteries. She asked him to come back in six weeks for a progress report, when adding a cholesterol-lowering statin would be considered.

"Everything we do—diet, exercise, the medications—they are geared toward improving the environment that the artery lives in," Mrs. Gordon told him.