Search

Improving cardiovascular (CV) risk profile, by lowering elevated body weight, blood pressure (BP), plasma cholesterol, and blood glucose (BG) levels, is of relevance for decreasing fatal and nonfatal CV events in young and middle-aged patients (1–4). Evidence also exists that the above-mentioned interventions are also highly effective in older patients, i.e., in subjects >65 years of age (3–6). However, it is unclear whether the same therapeutic approaches should be always used to treat old patients, taking into account on one hand the heterogeneity of the aged population and on the other the fact that frequently there is a discrepancy between chronological and biological age values. In addition, it is still undefined whether the threshold values used for initiating treatment of patients of younger ages should also apply to the older patients. Finally, it is debated whether the targets for treatment used for younger patients should be used for the older ones. Here, we aim to provide a general review on the above-mentioned issues, giving, whenever possible, indications useful for current clinical practice and having as a specific target the general population of healthy older patients. The review will be focused on aged individuals without major disabilities, such as multiple comorbidities, severe cognitive impairment, and in general, systemic diseases that will require continuous medical and nursing assistance. With this aim, the information available for the various variables, such as BMI, BP, blood cholesterol (BC), and BG, will be analyzed separately in the following sections. ### BMI in healthy older subjects Obesity is becoming a global epidemic, causing a sharp rise in many chronic diseases including diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension (7). Among older adults, the rate of obesity has also risen dramatically over the last few decades, independent of sex, race, and educational level (8). Obesity has significant implications on the health status of …