Ageing heart

Ischemic heart disease coexists with certain illnesses which may potentially influence the response of the myocardium to ischemia. Experimental evidence shows that the diseased myocardium may be either vulnerable or tolerant to ischemia and reperfusion injury. Much of the controversy could be attributed to differences in the experimental design, such as the duration and severity of the disease or the severity of the ischemic insult. The response of the myocardium to ischemia seems to vary with age. 

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Pepe, S., 2000, Mitochondrial function in ischemeia and reperfusion of the ageing heart. Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol., 27 745-750... 

Lakatta EG, Levy D. (2003) Arterial and cardiac aging major shareholders in cardiovascular disease enterprises Part 11 the aging heart in health links to heart disease. Circulation 107, 346-54. 

In the United States and in most other developed nations, heart disease is the number-one cause of death for individuals over the age of 65- Because most people in these nations live past this age, heart disease is actually the leading cause of death for all age groups combined, as noted in Table 14.5. 

There is a higher incidence of impaired sexual function in men who take finasteride compared with placebo (58,59). The incidence of erectile dysfunction has been estimated at 5% (60), but it is difficult to estimate, since in many users of the drug other causes are present, including advanced age, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, and hypercholesterolemia. Benign prostatic hyperplasia itself can also aggravate or even induce erectile dysfunction. A questionnaire study in New Jersey... 

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death of most humans. However, differences in age, heart size, physiological status, and other factors confound... 

Das, P. K., Temsah, R., Panagia, V., and Dhalla, N. S. 1997. Beta-adrenergic linked signal transduction mechanisms in developing and aging hearts. Heart Fail. Rev. 2 23 11. 

P Abcte, N. Ferrara, A. Cioppa, P. Ferrara, S. Bianco, C. Calabrese, F. Cacciatore, G. Longobardi, F. Rengo, Preconditioning does not prevent postischemic dysfunction in ageing heart,J Am Coll Cardiol 27, 1777-86(1996). 

Advanced age, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, recurrent or persistent pain. The prognosis is worse in diabetics and elderly patients, especially in presence of renal failure, sinus tachycardia and evident haemodynamic impairment (hypotension, pulmonary oedema, etc.) (grade 3-4 of Killip classification) (Wiviott et al, 2006). 

Cardiac function deteriorates with age, and endogenous damage to mitochondrial DNA is believed to be a major contributory factor to ageing. The 7 kb deletion of mtDNA was commonly detected in elderly subjects, and the proportion of deleted mtDNA to normal mtDNA increased with age (Hattori etal. 1991). A chronic ischaemia-like state is induced in the myocardium, which might contribute to the genesis of ageing heart (presbycar-dia). 

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