Related Experiment Videos
[The so-called aging heart in 50- to 100-year-old subjects]
Insights
Aging hearts show changes, but good cardiovascular health, possibly genetic, is key to longevity. Heart failure in the elderly results from combined heart and systemic conditions, not just aging.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular science
- Gerontology
- Pathophysiology
Context:
- Aging cardiovascular systems present unique morphological and functional changes.
- These include alterations in heart structure, coronary arteries, valves, and aorta, impacting hemodynamics.
- Reduced adaptation to exertion and increased failure incidence are observed.
Purpose:
- To explore the characteristics of the aging cardiovascular system.
- To understand the multifactorial causes of heart failure in advanced age.
- To identify factors contributing to longevity in very old individuals.
Summary:
- The aging heart undergoes significant changes, leading to reduced functional capacity and increased risk of heart failure.
- Heart failure in the elderly is multifactorial, involving both cardiac conditions and systemic multimorbidity.
- A study of 326 very old patients suggests that a superior cardiovascular state, potentially genetic, is crucial for reaching advanced age.
Impact:
- Highlights the complex interplay between aging, cardiovascular health, and overall morbidity.
- Underscores that heart failure in the elderly is pathological, not physiological.
- Suggests a genetic component to cardiovascular resilience may be vital for exceptional longevity.
Abstract:
The cardiovascular system of aging people exhibits a number of morphological, functional and clinical special features. Alterations in shape, size and weight of the heart, alterations of coronary arteries, valves and aorta are accompanied by typical changes in several hemodynamics variables. The result is a diminution of the adaptation capacity to physical exertion and increased incidence of failure. However, heart failure cannot be regarded as a physiological process; it is caused by a coincidence of an increasing polypathy of the aging heart (coronary artery disease, arteriosclerosis, hypertrophy, valve-changes,disseminated degenerative changes) and the polypathy or multimorbidity of the whole aging organism. In advanced age the various forms of ischaemic heart disease (angina pectoris, infarction, failure, arrhythmias) show increasingly atypical courses, complications and a higher degree of mortality. Modern therapeutic measures like demand pacemakers or bypass operations are principally applicable. Our study of now 326 patients of very high age shows that the good state of their cardiovascular system (probably genetically determined) is mainly responsible for reaching high age.