[Atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk factors in the elderly]

Atherosclerosis is an age-related process that reflects the interaction between aging and the factors that influence the rate of atherogenesis. The great difficulty in the study of the cardiovascular consequences of aging is due to the fact that it is not easy to distinguish between the effects aging per se (primary aging) and the effects of changes in behaviour and life style that usually accompany old age and may influence the rate of atherogenesis. Most risk factors known to contribute to cardiovascular disease are highly prevalent in the aged and all of them are modifiable. Ideally, preventive measures should be initiated early in the life, when such measures however instituted in the aged, also have beneficial effects. Because incidence rates of atherosclerotic disease are high in the elderly, preventive measures could have a great impact on older persons. Thus interventions aimed to decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality will reduce the health costs and improve the quality of the last years of life.