[Which sports after 50 years of age?]

Between the ages of 30 and 80, the physiological abilities decrease: muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, etc. The consequences on sports activities are obvious: limitation of the performance per se, quantitatively as well as qualitatively as well as the ability to recover. This is combined with a danger: coronary atherosclerosis responsible for 90 p. cent of the sudden deaths episodes seen in sports, in men over the age of 40/50. Even in France, a country that is not traditionally sports oriented (Pierre de Coubertin and a few occasional champions are really exceptions masking the non-existent sports activities in school)-sports have become a society phenomenon, on a par with the development of leisure, a younger retirement age, increased unemployment and the ageing of the population. Twelve millions of french people hold a sport license and more that twenty millions practice a sport more or less regularly. As epidemiologic studies are in a great majority as well as secondary prevention, it is possible to assert that there is no topic more frequently discussed today than that of physical activities in cardiology consultations. Often, french physicians are not well equipped to answer questions of provide judicious advice: because, very often, these physicians do not practice any sport and/or they are not convinced of the advantages of physical exercise and unfamiliar with the specific restrictions of each sport. In addition, they cannot perform a stress-test in their office--as in this domaine our country is also far behind.