Medicus, Vol. 14 No. 2_Gerijatrija, 2005.
Review article
Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in the Elderly
Željko Reiner
Eugenia Tedeschi-Reiner
Abstract
The population in developed countries,
including Croatia, is steadily ageing and today cardiovascular
diseases caused by atherosclerosis are the killer number
one, not only in middle-aged people, but in the elderly as
well. These diseases and their sequelae have a huge impact
on mortality, but also on the quality of life of elderly people
that they severely impair. However, until relatively recently
it was not clear whether cardiovascular risk factors, such
as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and lack of physical
activity, as well as psychosocial factors, such as social isolation,
depression and low perceived social support, are associated
with increased morbidity and mortality in this age group as
they are in middle-aged people. This association has been
proved in several studies that are presented in detail in this
review, and it also raised the question about the benefi ts of
statins and antihypertensives in the elderly. Therefore, several
prospective intervention studies have been conducted and their
results are also discussed in this paper. They suggest that the
strategy for cardiovascular risk management in middle-aged
people should be also applied to the elderly. Statins reduce the
risk of acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina, ischaemic
stroke, cognitive decline, and disability in the elderly with
existing cardiovascular diseases (secondary prevention) and
in those at high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases
(primary prevention). Various antihypertensives showed similar
effi cacy in the prevention of cardiovascular mortality and major
morbidity thus indicating that decrease in blood pressure is of
major importance.
Keywords
atherosclerosis; cardiovascular diseases; statins; antihypertensives; prevention; stroke
Hrčak ID:
18877
URI
Publication date:
17.10.2005.
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