Are You Young or Old at Heart?

Are you young at heart? I'm not talking about your maturity level here. Your heart age can be lower or higher than your actual age, so your ticker may have a few extra candles on its birthday cake. The average heart age for women is five years older than their actual age. And for men, the average is eight years older. A higher number puts you at a greater risk for heart attacks and strokes.

The good news is, you can do some things to roll back the clock. If you smoke, quit. If you have high blood pressure, work on lowering it. Get active. Move more than you did yesterday. And finally, eat healthy foods and cut back on processed foods with sugar, salt and saturated fats.

If that sounds like a lot, start small. Pick one of these good habits and start today. Then, you can move on to the next one.

For WebMD, I'm Dr. Arefa Cassoobhoy.