Financial stress and food insecurity may play a major role in how quickly the heart ages.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 280,000 adults using AI-powered heart assessments.
Social factors were found to rival — and sometimes exceed — traditional heart disease risks.
When we think about heart health, things like cholesterol, blood pressure, and diet usually come to mind.
However, new research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings suggests there’s more to the story. According to the study, everyday challenges like worrying about money or not having consistent access to food could have a measurable impact on how quickly your heart ages.
This concept centers around something called “cardiac age,” which reflects how old your heart appears biologically — not just how many birthdays you’ve had. A higher cardiac age compared to your actual age can signal a greater risk of future heart problems. What’s notable here is that social and economic stressors — often overlooked in medical settings — may significantly influence that aging process.
“Given the increasing life expectancy of the population and the enhanced burden of diseases in the elderly, the primary health care focus has shifted in the past decade to healthy aging and improved quality of life. This shift has also led to the search for new measures of biological aging,” lead investigator Amir Lerman, M.D., said in a news release.
“Our current research was motivated by the observation that traditional risk factors do not explain and contribute equally to cardiovascular disease. There are social factors that we do not identify or inquire about from our patients that may potentially reverse biological aging.”
How researchers studied the link
To explore this connection, researchers conducted a large cross-sectional study involving more than 280,000 adults who received care at Mayo Clinic between 2018 and 2023.
Participants completed a questionnaire that measured nine different “social determinants of health.” These included factors like financial strain, food insecurity, housing stability, stress levels, physical activity, and social connections.
From there, researchers used an artificial intelligence–enabled electrocardiogram (AI-ECG) to estimate each person’s cardiac age. This tool allowed them to compare a person’s biological heart age to their actual age — something traditional methods don’t always capture.
They then applied advanced statistical modeling to understand how these social factors interacted with more traditional health risks, like existing medical conditions or demographic characteristics.
What the study found
The results point to a clear pattern: social and economic stressors play a major role in heart aging. In fact, the combined impact of these factors was found to be one of the strongest predictors of accelerated cardiac aging — even when compared to traditional clinical risks.
Among all the factors studied, financial strain and food insecurity stood out as the most influential. People dealing with these challenges were more likely to have a higher cardiac age, meaning their hearts appeared biologically older than expected.
The study also found that certain social conditions — including financial hardship, unstable housing, and low physical activity — were strongly linked to a higher risk of death, sometimes matching or exceeding conventional risk factors.
While the findings don’t prove cause and effect, they highlight an important takeaway: health isn’t shaped by medical factors alone. The conditions people live in — including access to food and financial stability — may play a meaningful role in long-term heart health.
“Identifying the most important risk factors for cardiac aging allows for targeted preventive intervention in the community and empowers physicians to engage in patient-centered care, addressing the social context that contributes to heart disease,” Dr. Lerman said.