Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have developed a new way of uncovering the “true age” of a heart using MRI.

Research accepted for publication European Heart Journal Open shows how an MRI scan can reveal your heart’s functional age—and how unhealthy lifestyles can dramatically accelerate this figure. The paper is titled “Cardiac MRI Markers of Ageing: A Multicentre, Cross-sectional Cohort Study.”

It is hoped that the findings could transform how heart disease is diagnosed—offering a lifeline to millions by catching problems before they become deadly.