Open Access Review Article

Association of Lifestyle and Medication for Primary Cardiovascular Prevention in The Elderly

Luiz Kencis Junior1, Naiara Pedrassi Engracia Garcia Caluz1, Anita L R Saldanha1, André Luis Valera Gasparoto2, Ana Paula Pantoja Margeotto1, Paulo Maurício Garcia Nosé2, Bruno de Carvalho Abdala1, Mariléia Scartezini1 and Tania Leme da Rocha Martinez1*

1Department of Nephrology, BP - A Beneficência Portuguesa de São Paulo, Brazil

2Department of Intensive Care Unit, BP - A Beneficência Portuguesa de São Paulo, Brazil

Corresponding Author

Received Date:June 28, 2022;  Published Date:July 11, 2022

Abstract

The increase in the Brazilian elderly population draws attention to the need to adopt measures that mainly aim to offer a better quality of life to individuals belonging to this age group. The manifestations of atherosclerotic disease may have even more deleteleric repercussions in elderly individuals. Most of the time they imply a long period of hospitalization or home restriction to the bed, predisposing the individual to other pathologies that are difficult to recover in this age group. Not to mention the large number of fatal cases and long-term disability. Advanced age alone should not be considered as a limiting factor for therapeutic intervention in cases of dyslipidemias. The analysis of life expectancy and quality are extremely important. Dietary guidance is extremely important and should be very judicious, maintaining the caloric and vitamin intake of the elderly. General recommendations prevail, such as acquisition and maintenance of ideal weight, regular physical activity, suspension of smoking, among others. We must keep in mind the greatest difficulty of adherence to non-pharmacological treatment in this group of patients, since our intervention will be done in habits that persist for a long time; if we are facing primary prevention and this fact is detected, we should prolong the phase of non-pharmacological treatment. When prescribing lipid-lowering drugs for individuals over the age of 65 it is necessary to remember that there are numerous changes in the “aged” organism and therefore treatment should be started with lower doses than those usually prescribed for young adults. Statins are lipid-lowering drugs that have shown better efficacy in the elderly and are therefore the drugs of choice.

Keywords:Primary prevention; Elderly population; Cholesterol; Lifestyle; Statins

Abbreviations:CAD: Coronary Artery Disease; HDL: High Density Lipoprotein; LDL-c: Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol

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