Risk Factors for Coronary Atherosclerosis in the Elderly

Abstract

To determine the importance of traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) in the elderly, the authors studied 64 consecutive patients with angiographically nor mal or near-normal coronary arteries and 64 patients with CAD. All pa tients were ≥ sixty years old. The risk factors studied were male sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hy percholesterolemia, cigarette smok ing, sedentary life-style, and family history. The prevalence of these risk factors in the two groups of patients was compared. The results suggest that in persons ≥ 60 years old, male sex and cigarette smoking continue to remain risk factors for CAD. Since most of the patients with diabetes and hypertension were on medical man agement for their condition, the au thors' findings also suggest that diabetes mellitus, even under treat ment, remains an important risk fac tor for CAD in the elderly but controlled hypertension does not. Other traditional risk factors (hyper cholesterolemia, sedentary life-style, and family history) do not discrimi nate individuals with moderate to se vere CAD from those with normal or near-normal coronary arteries in persons ≥ sixty years old.