Carrageta M, de Pádua F
Cadeira de Medicina III-A, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa.
Rev Port Cardiol. 1990 Feb;9(2):109-12.
Atherosclerosis is an age-related process that reflects the interaction between aging and the factors that influence the rate of atherogenesis. The great difficulty in the study of the cardiovascular consequences of aging is due to the fact that it is not easy to distinguish between the effects aging per se (primary aging) and the effects of changes in behaviour and life style that usually accompany old age and may influence the rate of atherogenesis. Most risk factors known to contribute to cardiovascular disease are highly prevalent in the aged and all of them are modifiable. Ideally, preventive measures should be initiated early in the life, when such measures however instituted in the aged, also have beneficial effects. Because incidence rates of atherosclerotic disease are high in the elderly, preventive measures could have a great impact on older persons. Thus interventions aimed to decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality will reduce the health costs and improve the quality of the last years of life.
动脉粥样硬化是一个与年龄相关的过程，反映了衰老与影响动脉粥样硬化发生速率的因素之间的相互作用。研究衰老对心血管系统影响的巨大困难在于，很难区分衰老本身的影响（原发性衰老）与通常伴随老年出现且可能影响动脉粥样硬化发生速率的行为和生活方式变化的影响。已知大多数导致心血管疾病的危险因素在老年人中非常普遍，而且所有这些因素都是可以改变的。理想情况下，预防措施应在生命早期就开始实施，然而，当这些措施应用于老年人时，也会产生有益的效果。由于老年人中动脉粥样硬化疾病的发病率很高，预防措施可能会对老年人产生重大影响。因此，旨在降低心血管疾病发病率和死亡率（的干预措施）将降低医疗成本，并提高生命最后几年的生活质量。
