[Physical exercise and its effects on the cardiovascular system in elderly subjects].

Physical capacity and exercise tolerance decrease in the elderly because of derangements of the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems. It is increasingly apparent that many of these alterations are not necessarily connected to ageing but rather to physical inactivity. Rehabilitation programs adapted to the individual capacities of each patient permit prevention and even reversal of organic and functional deficits of the two systems, which are sometimes at the onset of serious invalidity. The recognition of the usefulness of such programs should lead the practitioner to persuade his elderly patients to sustain a physical activity adapted to their state of health.