For our Aging Gracefully series, 91欧美激情 speaks with different specialists at MedStar Washington Hospital Center about the best ways to maintain your health as you age. 聽
WASHINGTON 鈥� There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to how the heart ages.
鈥淧eople assume as your heart ages, it becomes weaker and you have problems with this, that and the other, and that鈥檚 not necessarily true,鈥� says , the director of Heart Failure聽with MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
Najjar says because cardiovascular-related diseases are more prevalent in older adults, it鈥檚 assumed that these diseases are normal to acquire with age. But really, age and disease are two separate issues.
There are some natural changes that happen to the heart and blood vessels as they age. For starters, an aging individual is unable to obtain as high of a heart rate during exercise as a younger individual.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why a 70-year-old can鈥檛 complete with a 20-year-old 鈥� from a heart perspective,鈥� Najjar says.
Blood vessels in the body also become stiffer with age. In a young individual, the aorta is a very compliant vessel. But as a person ages, the blood vessels, which have worked hard for a number of years, undergo structural changes and become stiffer.
When this happens, Najjar explains that the heart has to work harder to pump the blood through the vessel.
鈥淎ll of the sudden, a couple of things are happening. Number one, the heart has to do more work, and that鈥檚 not good for the heart because now it has to generate more force,鈥� he says.
A harder-working heart predisposes an individual to other health issues often seen in old age, such as heart failure.
鈥淏ecause the heart has to work more for a longer period of time and it may start saying, 鈥業鈥檓 getting tired out,鈥欌�� Najjar says.
Another disease that鈥檚 a result of stiffening vessels is hypertension, or high blood pressure, which is also common in the older population.
鈥淭he most common hypertension is called systolic hypertension; it鈥檚 from stiffness. So stiffening of the vessels, which is something you get from aging, leads to hypertension,鈥� Najjar says.
A heart attack, however, is not a natural symptom of an aging heart.
鈥淒eveloping atherosclerosis is not a normal aging thing,鈥� says Najjar, who adds that diet, lack of exercise and smoking all contribute to this state of plaque build up in the arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a disease state of some sort.鈥�
However, Najjar says age makes it easier for heart diseases to manifest.
鈥淎ging lowers your threshold for developing those cardiovascular diseases that we all talk about, given the stimulus that people are receiving.鈥�
For example, a young person who eats a lot of sodium may not see a change in his blood pressure early in life. But at an older age, the same amount of sodium intake will likely have a greater impact.
So how does one keep a healthy heart with age? Najjar says the answer involves some low-tech interventions.
鈥淲e know, without a shadow of a doubt, that exercise actually can prevent these things from happening.鈥�
He says a mix of aerobic exercise and light resistance training is the most effective approach. Maintaining a healthy diet and not smoking are also important when it comes to keeping heart disease at bay as you age.
鈥淪alt is a big contributor to these things. Moderating the amount of salt you eat also can have long-term effects,鈥� Najjar says.
Genetics plays an important role in the health of your heart as you age, as well. 鈥淎nd I have no doubt that there鈥檚 many other risk factors that we just don鈥檛 know about in 2015,鈥� Najjar adds.
Since people go through the aging process at different speeds, Najjar says the best thing to do is to adopt these practices as soon as possible. Smoking, remaining sedentary and eating poorly will only put you on the 鈥渇ast track鈥� to a declining heart.
Hypertension can be managed with drugs, but there are no screening tests for overall heart health as you age. Najjar says this is mostly because there is no 鈥渕agic pill鈥� to treat an aging heart and cardiovascular system.
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 need to have screening tests; they need to identify the risk factors and modify them. And then modifying risk factors is something that is available to us, and that鈥檚 what we really should focus on.鈥�
