Cardiovascular drugs and the elderly.

Age greater than 75 years modifies the conditions of drug treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The quantity of drug absorbed remains stable, but its bioavailability is increased and its hepatic and/or renal elimination is limited and delayed. In these patients, a dosage less than the recommended adult dosage must be prescribed and, when necessary, plasma assays should be performed, especially for substances whose therapeutic dose is close to the toxic dose. The patients level of cognitive and visual functioning, medical history and sociofamilial environment must also be taken into account. The nature of concomitant diseases, the number of prescribers and the content of prescriptions must also be known in order to avoid drug interactions. When these precautions are respected, the risk of cardiovascular drugs is not higher in elderly cardiac and hypertensive patients than in youngers subjects.