Since time and health are among our most scarce and valuable assets, it is no surprise that metrics such as biological age can serve as a powerful motivator for behaviour change[1, 2, 3] . Numerous methods have been described for determining 'biological age', ranging from expensive epigenetic tests to simpler estimation approaches. However, the accuracy of these calculations remains a subject of debate[4].

Because we use biological age primarily as a motivational tool for lifestyle change, Synapse has opted for a low-barrier approach based on the methodology behind the Heart Age Calculator[5]. Multiple risk factors are quantified and weighted, allowing a patient to 'gain or lose years'. Someone with a healthy lifestyle and favourable cardiometabolic values will therefore appear biologically younger than someone with unhealthy habits and abnormal biomarkers.

References

1. Bonner, C. et al. Experiences of a national web-based heart age calculator for cardiovascular disease prevention: User characteristics, heart age results, and behavior change survey. J Med Internet Res 22, (2020).
2. Bonner, C., Batcup, C., Fajardo, M. & Trevena, L. Biological age calculators to motivate lifestyle change: Environmental scan of online tools and evaluation of behaviour change techniques. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 34, 202–210 (2023).
3. 3. Husted, K. L. S., Dandanell, S., Petersen, J., Dela, F. & Helge, J. W. The effectiveness of body age-based intervention in workplace health promotion: Results of a cohort study on 9851 Danish employees. PLoS One 15, (2020).
4. 4. Teschendorff, A. E. & Horvath, S. Epigenetic ageing clocks: statistical methods and emerging computational challenges. Nat Rev Genet (2025) doi:10.1038/s41576-024- 00807-w.
5. 5. Australian Heart Foundation. Heart Age Calculator . https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/heart-age-calculator.