How to Find Out the Age of Your Arteries in 1 Minute

You are only as old as your arteries.  In this article, I will show you how to find out the age of your arteries in just one minute.

As long as your arteries stay young, your heart, brain, kidneys, and other organs should continue to function normally. Read on to find out if your arteries are older than you are and what you can do to reverse artery aging now.

A Simple Test to Find Out the Age of Your Arteries

The easiest and quickest way to find out the age of your arteries is to determine your "pulse pressure."  This can easily be done at home with a blood pressure machine.

First, take your blood pressure after you have been comfortably resting for five minutes.  The blood pressure cuff on your arm should fit well and be at about the same height as your heart.

The pulse pressure is calculated by subtracting the lower number of your blood pressure (diastolic blood pressure) from the upper number (systolic blood pressure).  For example, if your blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg, then your pulse pressure would be 40 (120 minus 80).

What does pulse pressure mean?

The pulse pressure is a gauge to the age of your arteries.  As people age, arteries tend to stiffen and fill up with plaque.

People with stiff, or old arteries, tend to have a high systolic blood pressure (top number).  In contrast, the diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) doesn't change much with age.

What is a normal pulse pressure?

A normal pulse pressure for adults is somewhere around 40.  The closer your pulse pressure is to 40, the better.

If the pulse pressure is more than 10 points above or below 40, this could be a warning sign.  For example, a very low pulse pressure could mean heart failure, a tight aortic valve (aortic stenosis), or other problems.

On the other hand, a high pulse pressure is usually caused by stiff or old arteries.  Other causes of a high pulse pressure could include a leaky aortic valve (aortic regurgitation), too much thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism), anemia, or other causes.

How serious is a high pulse pressure?

A high pulse pressure is something that shouldn't be ignored.  For example, in a study of 7,929 people, researchers found that if your pulse pressure was even 10 points higher than it should be, then your risk of dying prematurely was 20% higher.

Another study showed that if your pulse pressure is more than 20 points above normal (60 or higher), that your risk of atrial fibrillation is increased by 316%!

When it comes to your brain, studies show that a high pulse pressure is associated with early dementia.  Likewise, studies also show that a high pulse pressure is linked to kidney failure and dialysis.

What causes a high pulse pressure?

The top four causes of a high pulse pressure that I typically see are due to smoking, diabetes, obesity, or advancing age.  While their isn't much you can do about the number of candles on your birthday cake, there is a lot you can do now to reverse the biologic age of your arteries.

8 Ways to Normalize Your Pulse Pressure

The following tips to normalize your pulse pressure are based on the assumption that your high pulse pressure is due to premature aging of your arteries.  Below are the eight best ways to lower pulse pressure based on the latest medical studies.

1. High Intensity Exercise: 14 Point Reduction

The best way to lower your pulse pressure is with exercise.  Whether it is interval training or plain old "cardio," it all helps.

Indeed, one study showed that pulse pressure was lowered by 14 points with just one hour of high intensity exercise three days a week.  While this study was definitely on the high end of what you can expect to see, most other studies show a three to six point reduction in pulse pressure with traditional exercise.

2. Yoga: 10 Point Reduction

If high intensity exercise is not your thing, another study showed that yoga was highly effective as well.  In this study,