The increase in peripheral vascular resistance elevates diastolic and mean arterial pressures and plays a greater role in the vascular afterload of the heart than it does in normotensive persons. Also, resting stroke volume and cardiac output are lower in hypertensive persons than in normotensive persons. Effects of Lifestyle Diet, exercise habits, and smoking may affect the heart and blood vessels of older persons, as suggested by cross-cultural studies. For instance, a difference in dietary sodium may account for some of the differences in age-associated blood pressure changes that occur among persons of different countries. However, some changes occur because the sodium sensitivity of arterial pressure regulation increases with age.
Physical conditioning appears to lessen the vascular stiffening associated with aging.
Late augmentation of resting systolic blood pressure, which is an index of arterial stiffness, is increased by only about half as much in endurance-trained elderly persons as it is in sedentary ones. Physical conditioning can also improve the aerobic capacity of older persons by increasing cardiac output and O 2 utilization. Older persons in good physical condition can match or exceed the aerobic capacity of unconditioned younger persons. However, conditioning does not affect the prolonged action potential or the myosin isoenzyme shift to slower forms. All rights reserved.