Cardiovascular Aging: Perspectives From Humans to Rodents.

In order to define and target the specific characteristics of cardiovascular aging that render aging as a risk factor for diseases (such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, stroke, and heart failure) that reach epidemic proportions among older individuals, it is essential to develop quantitative information on age-associated alterations in cardiovascular structure and function in health. A sustained effort, over the past two decades, has been applied to characterize the multiple effects of aging on health in cardiovascular structure and function in a single study population (BLSA). In these studies, community-dwelling, volunteer participants are rigorously screened to detect both clinical and occult cardiovascular disease and characterized with respect to lifestyle (e.g., exercise habits), in an attempt to deconvolute interactions among lifestyle, cardiovascular disease, and the aging process in health. Some specific changes in resting cardiovascular structure and function and cardiovascular reserve capacity that occur with advancing age in these healthy humans have been identified and are presented here. These observations in humans are extended by relevant experiments from animal models to provide possible mechanistic insight.