Withings Body Cardio Scale will now give you a Vascular Age to give you a user-friendly view of arterial health based on the cardiovascular index

I have been a fan of Wi-Fi connected smart scales for years; it was an essential tool in my weight loss journey and continues to be useful for weight management.

I originally bought on the Withings Body, then Nokia, but last year reviewed the flagship Withings Body Cardio scale. The scale takes things up a notch, not only measuring your weight, body fat, and muscle but will measure your heart rate and  Pulse Wave Velocity. While PWV may not be as well know as the likes of blood pressure, it does provide some useful insight into heart health; it is also much easier to take a reading vs a blood pressure machine.

Withings are now rolling out an update to the Body Cardio, which expands on the PWV feature by using a new cardiovascular index which will then give you your Vascular Age.

Developed by leading cardiologists, Vascular Age provides a daily, easy to understand assessment of arterial health. It accomplishes this by showing people how their cardiovascular health compares to the norms expected within their age bracket, with an estimate of their inner heart age and an indication of whether it is optimum, normal, or not optimum for their chronological age

With the Vascular Age, Withings has created an instantly recognizable index to help users better understand their health and maintain or change behaviour to live a healthy lifestyle

With cardiovascular diseases taking so many lives each year, the ability to monitor heart health from home with medical-grade insights is imperative.

Determining Vascular Age

Vascular Age is based on Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV), a measurement of arterial stiffness that is a key indicator of cardiac health. It is widely used in clinical settings to provide early warnings of associated risks of cardiac and health incidents such as hypertension, high cholesterol, organ failure, reduced cognitive function, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and heart attack.It is the speed at which the blood pressure pulse propagates through the circulatory system.

To determine PWV,Body Cardio measures the time difference between blood ejection by the heart in the aorta and the arrival of blood flow in the feet using ballistocardiography and impedance plethysmography technologies. When the heart beats, it exerts a force that leads to weight variations on the Body Cardio. A change in the body’s electrical current can be detected by the scale when this blood flow reaches the feet allowing PWV to be calculated

To determine Vascular Age, Withings’ algorithm analyzes a person’s PWV measurement against the norms for their age and physical characteristics and is expressed both as an actual age (+/-range against chronological range) and as an indication of whether a person is optimal,normal, or sub-optimal. 

The Importance of Vascular Age

Usually, arteries age more slowly than the rest of the body. However, they can age faster when constantly aggravated by items such as cigarette smoke and foods laden with saturated and trans fats. If vascular age is determined to be significantly greater than a person’s chronological age, they may be more at risk of developing cardiovascular issues later in life. Vascular age is a metric recognized by the scientific community and often used as a wellness tool.

Withings Body Cardio Price and Availability

With the Withings Body Cardio being the most advanced scales on the market, they are one of the most expensive (but cheaper than the less feature-rich Garmin Index S2).

Amazon currently has the Withings Body Cardio available for £125. There is not a huge variation in price either, on Black Friday, it looks like they were £105.

Last update on 2024-12-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API