CARDIOVASCULAR CONSEQUENCES OF THE AGING PROCESS

There are many challenges in the study of the normal age-associated changes that occur in the cardiovascular system, the most important of which is the fact that cardiovascular disease is so common in the elderly. In animal models and healthy humans, three age-associated changes with increasing age include (1) impaired left ventricular diastolic filling, (2) reduction in the adrenergic responsiveness to catecholamines, and (3) an increase in arterial stiffness. These changes likely are influenced by the increasingly sedentary lifestyle in the elderly. These age-associated changes also influence the manifestations of cardiovascular disease in the elderly and the response to therapy.