Antiaging Checkup: Vascular Age

Thomas Sydenham, a seventeenth-century chemist, left behind the words “A man is as old as his arteries.” Endothelial dysfunction is the beginning of arteriosclerosis. Furthermore, when smooth muscle dysfunction occurs, it becomes a state of organic arteriosclerosis, leading to the maintenance and progression of arteriosclerosis, and eventually leading to cardiovascular complications. Aging is the greatest risk factor for arteriosclerosis and is an independent risk factor for endothelial dysfunction and smooth muscle dysfunction [1]. Vascular age includes both physiological aging (calendar age) and aging under the presence of coronary risk factors (Fig. 130.1). Evaluating vascular age can be an important item in evaluating anti-aging through various interventions. Currently, not only invasive vascular function tests but also many noninvasive vascular function tests are being performed to evaluate vascular age.