EVA and SUPERNOVA concepts of vascular aging: ongoing research on damaging and protective risk factors

Abstract

Regarding prevention of cardiometabolic diseases, we often rely on the concepts of risk and disease, rather than the possibility of prevention. The concept of “vascular age” is developed to assess the biological state of arteries and to present cardiovascular risk in years for better understanding by the doctor and patient. Early vascular aging (EVA) syndrome has been studied for more than 10 years to determine the optimal diagnostic criteria and treatment approaches. In 2019, leading experts in the area of vascular stiffness suggested the opposite concept of supernomal vascular aging (SUPERNOVA), in which patients have extremely low vascular stiffness rates for their age and gender. This review discusses new data about factors that accelerate or slow vascular aging.