As we mature, it’s easy to notice the changes we can see – such as shifts in our skin, muscle tone, or even hair colour – but far less obvious are the changes happening beneath the surface, particularly in the heart.
To mark Heart Health Month this February, we spoke with Dr Anish Bhuva, consultant cardiologist at HCA Healthcare UK The Wellington Hospital, to find out what structural and functional changes the heart can undergo as we get older. He has also shared some practical advice on how to counter some of these effects to help keep your heart healthy and resilient well into later life.
Heart muscle can decrease in size
“Across the whole body, muscles tend to lose their mass over time, and we are becoming more conscious about trying to reverse the speed of that decline,” says Bhuva. “The heart, like…