What factors complicate the diagnosis and treatment of SIHD in older adults?
Several factors complicate the diagnosis and treatment of SIHD in older adults. Common coexisting conditions of the pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal systems can cause chest pain, making diagnosis more difficult, even in patients with documented IHD. Physiological changes in older adults, including alterations in cardiac output through various mechanisms, muscle loss and deconditioning, neuropathies, lung disease, and degenerative joint disease, make stress testing more difficult.