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Age is the major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Heart disease
and stroke rise steeply after age 65, accounting for more than 40 percent
of all deaths among people age 65 to 74 and almost 60 percent at age 85
and above. People age 65 and over are much more likely than younger people
to suffer a heart attack, to have a stroke, and to develop coronary heart
disease and high blood pressure leading to heart failure. Cardiovascular
diseases are also major causes of disability, limiting the activity and
eroding the quality of life of millions of older people each year. Their
cost to the Nation is in the billions.
To understand why aging is so closely
linked to cardiovascular disease, and ultimately to understand the causes
and cures for this group of diseases, it is essential to understand what
is happening in the heart and arteries during normal aging-aging in the
absence of disease. This understanding has moved forward dramatically
in the last 20 years. The purpose of this book is to tell the story of
this progress, describe some of the most important findings, and give
a sense of what may lie ahead.
Research on the aging heart and
blood vessels takes place at several different research centers. A great
deal of this work is centered in the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science
at the National Institute on Aging (NIA). Many of the researchers mentioned
in the following pages work in or with this laboratory. Some served as
post-doctoral fellows or visiting scientists at NIA; some are funded by
the Institute. Others have worked at or been funded by the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). NIA and NHLBI are two of 17 institutes
at the National Institutes of Health, and their work is complementary.
NIA research focuses on the effects of aging on the heart, blood vessels,
and other parts of the body, while NHLBI works to understand the diseases
and risk factors that affect the heart and blood vessels.
Both perspectives are bringing us closer to the possibility that heart
disease and stroke will someday be defeated. Research on the basic biology
of the aging cardiovascular system gives hope that we as a Nation need
not accept the high rates of death and disability and the enormous health
care costs imposed by cardiovascular disease among older people in our
society.
Richard J. Hodes, M.D.
Director
National Institute on Aging
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