Coronary heart disease: requisite knowledge for developing prevention strategies for the aging adult.

More people than ever before are reaching old age, with the latest statistics indicating that life expectancy for a man of 45 years has increased from 70.4 to 77.3 years and from 77.0 to 82.8 years for a woman. One of the primary factors associated with this increase in longevity is the decrease in mortality from cardiovascular disease. Since the mid 1960's, there has been a decline in cardiovascular mortality of about three percent per year. Recent technological advances and healthier lifestyles are among the reasons contributing to this trend, supporting the notion that the decrease in cardiovascular mortality and morbidity is due to more than just aging and genetic predisposition. Our challenge as health care professionals, is to be aware not only of the cardiovascular changes that occur as a result of aging, but to identify when and how much intervention is appropriate (i.e. risk factor modification) for selected age groups, particularly the older adult.