Hypertension in the Elderly

As the life expectancy of patients with arterial hypertension increases, hypertension in the elderly is becoming a relevant medical and social problem. Indeed, epidemiological trials have shown that the cardiovascular risk in elderly hypertensives is significantly higher than in normotensive subjects of comparable age. However, many characteristics of hypertension in the elderly, such as the haemodynamic pattern, do differ greatly from those of younger hypertensives and therefore the results obtained in younger patients cannot be extrapolated to older hypertensives. In this book, experts on hypertension have examined different aspects of hypertension in the elderly: from the changes in the cardiovascular system associated with ageing, to the role of ambulatory blood pressure measurement in the diagnosis of hypertension and the results of recent clinical trials into the efficacy and tolerability of antihypertensive drugs. This book covers all the clinical aspects of hypertension in the elderly and should therefore be a useful tool for medical students, general practitioners and specialists in hypertension alike.