The Importance of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in the Elderly.
The cardiovascular risk factors in the elderly are much the same as those that predispose middle-aged candidates for cardiovascular disease. Some risk factors, such as blood lipids, impaired glucose tolerance, fibrinogen, and uric acid, are associated with lower risk ratios in advanced age, but this lower relative risk is offset by a high absolute risk. Thus, cardiovascular risk factors remain relevant at elderly age. Since the incidence of cardiovascular disease and the prevalence of the predisposing risk factors is so great in the elderly, the attributable risk is large, and the short-term potential benefit of treatment is actually greater in the elderly than in the middle aged. Preventive measures, as well, are useful in reducing the risk of disease in the elderly. Therefore, efforts at primary and secondary prevention should be considered in the elderly-they should not be neglected simply because of their age.