title: Cardiac rehabilitation in the elderly.
abstract: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Advanced age is associated with a higher prevalence of CHD as well as increased morbidity and mortality. One key vulnerability relates to the fact that older individuals are generally among the least fit, least active cohort and at increased risk of complications after an acute cardiac event and/or major surgery. There is ample evidence to demonstrate the beneficial effects of exercised-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs on improving functional capacity and other indices of cardiovascular (CV) health. Although the predominant number of studies is in middle-aged patients, there is an escalating amount of new information that establishes the cardioprotective role of CR and, in particular, structured exercise therapy (ET) among the elderly. The present review summarizes the current data available regarding CR and ET and its salutary impact on today's growing population of older adults with CHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, Ochsner Clinical School-The University of Queensland School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA.
authors.forename: Arthur R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Menezes
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, Ochsner Clinical School-The University of Queensland School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA; Department of Preventive Cardiology, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, LA. Electronic address: clavie@ochsner.org.
authors.forename: Carl J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lavie
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA; New England Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Forman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy and Integrative Physiology Laboratory, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arena
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, Ochsner Clinical School-The University of Queensland School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA.
authors.forename: Richard V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Milani
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI.
authors.forename: Barry A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Franklin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life
keywords: Cardiac rehabilitation; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Coronary heart disease; Elderly; Exercise therapy