>> Women in the Balearic Islands are six years younger than men in cardiovascular health, according to research.
>> Researchers have identified that smoking, consuming alcohol, following an unhealthy diet and leading a sedentary lifestyle can triple the risk of premature aging of the heart and arteries.
A study conducted by the ADEMA Salud research team at IUNICS, published in Nutrients, one of Europe’s leading scientific journals, has revealed that women in the Balearic Islands and the rest of Spain have better cardiovascular health than men, with a significantly lower vascular and cardiac age.
According to Dr. Arturo López, Director of R&D and Scientific Publications at the ADEMA University School, “on average, men have six years more vascular age (VE) and cardiac age (CA) than their chronological age indicates, while in women this difference is barely a year.”
The analysis, conducted on a sample of 139,634 workers from different sectors and regions of Spain (with a strong representation from the Balearic Islands), evaluated how sociodemographic factors and lifestyle habits influence cardiovascular aging. “The data show that 40.5% of the participants were women and that the average age of all the workers analyzed was slightly over 40,” explained Dr. Arturo López.
The study confirms that women have significantly better values in almost all cardiovascular health indicators. For example, the average systolic blood pressure in men was 126.2 mmHg, while in women it was 115.6 mmHg.
The same is true for diastolic blood pressure (76.6 mmHg in men versus 71.1 mmHg in women) and total cholesterol levels (199.6 mg/dL in men and 194.6 mg/dL in women).
Another relevant finding is the difference in adherence to the Mediterranean diet: 47.2% of women follow this dietary pattern, compared to only 34.2% of men. This factor is crucial, as the study shows that poor adherence to the Mediterranean diet doubles the risk of having an elevated heart rate.
Furthermore, a sedentary lifestyle is more common in men (62.4% do not engage in regular physical activity, compared to 51.4% in women), and alcohol consumption is significantly higher among men (32.7% compared to 15.6% in women). These factors largely explain the difference in cardiovascular aging rates between the sexes.
Factors that most influence cardiovascular aging
Researchers have identified that smoking, alcohol consumption, an unhealthy diet, and a sedentary lifestyle can triple the risk of premature aging of the heart and arteries. Smokers have a 2.88 times greater risk of having a heart age older than their chronological age and a 2.95 times greater risk of having an elevated vascular age. For regular alcohol consumers, the risk of accelerated aging increases 3.20 times.
Furthermore, socioeconomic status also plays a role. Workers in social class III (unskilled jobs) have a 2.70 times higher risk of having an elevated vascular age, compared to those in social class I (managerial, professional, and artistic). This phenomenon could be explained by lower health education, poorer eating habits, and less access to prevention resources.
Vascular and cardiac aging, a preventable problem
For Dr. Pere Riutord, president of the Research Advisory Council at the ADEMA University School, “the results of the study reinforce the importance of promoting healthy lifestyle habits from an early age to slow cardiovascular aging. Regular physical activity reduces the risk of advanced vascular age by 66%, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet reduces this risk by more than 60%.”
In light of these conclusions, the research team recommends that the public become aware of the importance of these factors. Although genetics plays a role in cardiovascular aging, the study shows that most of the risk is modifiable. In the words of Dr. Arturo López: “We can’t change our chronological age, but we can influence the actual age of our heart and arteries.”