BATON ROUGE — The age of your heart may be even older than your actual age; it is a measure of your risk for potential heart problems.

A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association: Cardiology reveals that many adults have hearts that function like they belong to someone much older.

Researchers call this your "risk age." It is a measure that factors in blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and other health risks.

Northwestern University scientists developed the "prevent risk age tool," which estimates how old your heart really is by comparing it to a healthy peer.

When researchers applied the score to more than 14,000 volunteers, the results were striking.

On average, women's hearts came out four years older than their actual age. Men's hearts were about seven years older.

The gap was even wider for people with lower income, less education or from some racial and ethnic groups.

Doctors say small changes to your diet, getting in some extra steps daily and a few other tweaks to your health habits can really turn things around.

If you do have concerns, talk to your doctor about what you can do to keep your heart young.