CURRENT LANDSCAPE OF GERIATRIC CARDIOLOGY: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Highlights

The presented article highlights the issues of increasing life expectancy, pathophysiological changes in the cardiovascular system associated with age, and aspects of cardiac care for elderly patients.

Abstract

Aging is an inevitable part of life, and age-associated changes in the cardiovascular system begin to manifest themselves in youth, gradually affecting almost all organs and systems. A deep understanding of the mechanisms of aging is extremely important for the development of effective prevention and treatment measures, especially among populations at high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. It is cardiovascular diseases that remain the main cause of death among elderly patients. However, the elderly face additional health problems, such as poly- and multimorbidity, frailty, cognitive impairment, and polypharmacy, which go beyond the traditional protocols of medical care. All of these factors are closely related to each other, creating a complex picture that requires a completely different approach to the organization of cardiac care for elderly patients.

It should be noted that geriatric cardiology has not been officially designated as a field of medical science, although it is aimed specifically at developing the right management strategy for elderly patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases or at high risk of developing them. This branch of medicine is based on the principles of both classical cardiology and geriatrics, striving to provide a patient-based approach to each patient and improve the overall prognosis of the course of diseases.

This article is devoted to various aspects of aging, in particular, the significant increase in the average life expectancy of modern patients, the main pathophysiological changes occurring in the cardiovascular system over time, as well as the prospects for further development of geriatric cardiology as an independent discipline.

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