LONDON, October 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

The news is full of stories about how important it is to keep your heart healthy, but have you ever wondered what your heart age is? 

To mark National Cholesterol Month, AstraZeneca has worked in collaboration with HEART UK - The Cholesterol Charity - to launch 'How Young My Heart' - a new website that enables participants to complete a one minute questionnaire to find out what the age of their heart could be. Those wishing to take the test can do so by visiting http://www.heart-age.com

Each time the questionnaire is completed and shared via social media channels Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #NCM, AstraZeneca has pledged to donate 25p to HEART UK, up to the value of £10,000.

Jules Payne, Chief Executive from HEART UK, said:  

"The development of the 'How Young My Heart' website has created a great opportunity to talk more about the importance of heart health and the prevention of heart disease in the United Kingdom. Over half of adults in England have raised cholesterol and a lot of us don't have a strong understanding of what the real state of our heart health is. The website is a great way to start a conversation around this - especially during National Cholesterol Month."

Did you know?  

• Many people are totally unaware of their heart health

• More than half of adults in England have high blood cholesterol levels (5mmol/l or above)^[1]

• Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the biggest killer in the UK^[1]

• Cardiovascular (heart and circulatory) disease causes more than a quarter of all deaths in the UK, that's around 155,000 deaths a year, 425 a day, one every three minutes^[1]

• Diet, exercise and lifestyle all have a major impact on heart health^[1]

References  

1. British Heart Foundation. Cardiovascular Disease Statistics UK Factsheet. Available at: https://www.bhf.org.uk/research/heart-statistics Last accessed: September 2015.

NOTES TO EDITOR  

About AstraZeneca  

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, inflammation, autoimmune, oncology, infection and neuroscience diseases. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. For more information please visit: http://www.astrazeneca.co.uk .

About HEART UK  

HEART UK - The Cholesterol Charity - promotes healthy hearts and better lives through expert support, guidance and education for individuals, families and health professionals to help them understand and control cholesterol conditions and other heart risks.

Registered charity number: 1003904

Preparation date: October 2015

SOURCE AstraZeneca