One in 10 men aged 50 in England has a heart that is 10 years older than their actual age, a shock report from Public Health England (PHE) revealed Monday.

New analysis from PHE’s Heart Age Test shows many have a heightened risk of a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke.

PHE says a Heart Age Test is the only known way of measuring heart age showing how many years a person can expect to live healthily without a heart attack or stroke. The message is the higher the heart age, the higher our risk.

Analysis of 1.2 million test results shows the majority of people (64 percent) with a heart 10 years older than their actual age are male.

Every month, 7,400 people die from heart disease or stroke, says PHE, adding: "A quarter of deaths are of people under 75 and most of these can be prevented.”

A PHE campaign throughout September is leading the way to encourage people to be as familiar with their heart age as they are with their weight or height.

Xinhua