The Rate of Aging and Its Association with Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Diseases

Background: Biological age is a better predictor of morbidity and mortality associated with chronic age-related diseases than chronological age. The estimated difference between biological and chronological age can reveal an individual's rate of aging. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the association of cardiovascular risk factors with the rate of aging in people without cardiovascular diseases. Materials and methods: We calculated biological artery age and found associations of "old" arteries and rate of aging with risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in 143 adults without cardiovascular diseases. The data were analyzed by their categorization into 3 tertiles using regression methods. Results: The increased biological age of the arteries compared to the chronological age was associated with the chronological age (p < 0.001; OR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.43-0.71) and hypertension (p = 0.002; OR = 6.04; 95% CI: 1.98-18.42) in general group, age (p < 0.001; OR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.30-0.68), hypertension (p = 0.004; OR = 12.79; 95% CI: 2.25-72.55) and family history of oncology (p = 0.036; OR = 0.14; 95% CI: 0.02-0.88) in women subgroup and age (p = 0.001; OR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.28-0.76) and 3rd tertile of glycated hemoglobin (p = 0.041; OR = 65.05; 95% CI: 1.19-3548.29) in men subgroup. Difference between biological and chronological age in a group of "old" arteries was associated with chronological age (p = 0.001; beta = -1.24; 95% CI: -1.95 horizontal ellipsis -0.53) and with chronological age (p < 0.001; beta = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.06-2.36) and 3rd tertile of glycated hemoglobin (p = 0.009; beta = -4.78; 95% CI: -8.32 horizontal ellipsis -1.24) in group of "young" arteries. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that accelerated arterial aging is associated with hypertension and high levels of glycated hemoglobin.