The “Heartbreak” of Older Age

Table 1.

Exhaustive Upright Exercise Changes In Aerobic Capacity And Cardiac Regulation Between Ages of 20 And 80 Years In Healthy Men and Women

EDV, End Diastolic Volume; ESV, End Systolic Volume; PVR, Peripheral Vascular Resistance; AV, arterio-venous.
Oxygen Consumption ↓ (50%)
(A-V)O2 ↓ (25%)
Cardiac Index ↓ (25%)
Heart Rate ↓ (25%)
Stroke Volume no Δ
Preload
    EDV ↑ (30%)
Afterload
    Vascular (PVR) ↑ (30%)
    Cardiac (ESV) ↑ (275%)
    Cardiac (EDV) ↑ (30%)
Contractility ↓ (60%)
Ejection Fraction ↓ (15%)
Plasma Catecholamines
Cardiac and Vascular
Responses to ß-adrenergic stimulation

This Article

  1. MI November 2002 vol. 2 no. 7 431-446