Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-25-2025

Keywords

age, aging, antihypertensive therapy, blood pressure, Boss and Seegmiller, cardiac output, cardiovascular system, cholesterol, decades of life, decline, diastolic myocardial stiffness, factors, hair, health, hypertension (high blood pressure), internal changes, likelihood, lipid content, myocardial infarctions (heart attacks), older adults, physiological changes, progressive decline, risk, skin, systolic myocardial stiffness, vessels, visible changes

Disciplines

Developmental Psychology

Abstract

Beginning in the third and fourth decades of life, subtle physiological changes start to occur with progressive decline as age increases. Some changes are visible such as wrinkling of the skin or whitening of hair, but the majority of physiological changes due to aging are internal. Many changes occur within the cardiovascular system. Boss and Seegmiller (1981) explain that with aging, cardiac output decreases as diastolic and systolic myocardial stiffness increases. These changes have been associated with increased blood pressure in older adults, leading to hypertension. This age-related change can be safely managed by antihypertensive therapy that is monitored regularly. In addition to these changes, lipid content of vessels increases, usually from increased cholesterol. While other factors play a part in myocardial infarctions, this change may increase the likelihood of myocardial infarctions in older adults.

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