You may be about to turn 30, 40 or 50 years of age, but how old is your heart? Your heart age may not in fact be in line with your birthdays. A new website (www.knowyournumbers.org.nz) produced by the Heart Foundation and the University of Auckland can now give you a Heart Age Forecast. The Heart Age Forecast is a first of its kind to calculate a person’s current and future risk of heart disease or stroke, providing them with a tailored heart health plan to put them on a path to a healthier lifestyle. It calculates a person’s current and future heart risk using two important numbers – blood pressure and cholesterol ratio. These numbers, in conjunction with a person’s heart story – age, ethnicity, smoking and family history – offer a striking insight into a person’s health and the effect lifestyle choices are having on their body. Heart Foundation Medical Director, Professor Norman Sharpe, says “People don’t have to know their blood pressure or cholesterol levels to use it. However, a more accurate assessment is given if people know these numbers, and therefore it prompts those who don’t to visit their GP to find out what they are.” Each year, 40% of deaths are due to cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke), making it the leading cause of death in New Zealand. “Our hope with this tool is that it will shock at-risk people into making these changes,” says Professor Sharpe.