Effects of aging heart:-

Heart functions begin to slow down with age. The aging process reduces the heart muscle strength. So its pumping power declines, and the maximal heart rate (the highest number of times your heart can contract in a minute) also decreases. When the amount of blood pumped by the heart in a minute declines, systolic blood pressure tends to rise. Some of the common heart problems that can occur as we age are

* Arteriosclerosis (hardening / clogging of the arteries due to excessive build up of fat and cholesterol known as plaque). Fatty plaque deposits inside the blood vessels cause it to narrow and can totally block blood vessels and also cause the valves that control the direction of blood flow to thicken and become stiff. Arteriosclerosis in turn is the underlying cause of most cardio vascular diseases.

* The heart has to work harder due to decreased blood supply. Greater force is necessary to push blood through narrowed vessels due to plaque build up. So high blood pressure develops and this buildup and shortage of oxygenated blood over time, leads to heart attacks. In a heart attack, a part of the heart muscle becomes starved for oxygen and dies.

* Angina (chest pain caused by temporarily reduced oxygenated blood flow to the heart muscle), causing pain in the chest, in the left arm or between the shoulder blades.

* Dissecting Aneurysm: The atherosclerosed aorta becomes brittle and can break much easier creating a life threatening situation.

* Heart failure is very common in the elderly. In people older than 75, heart failure occurs 10 times more often than in younger adults.

* Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) of various types.