IMPACT OF ASTHMA THERAPY ON CARDIOVASCULAR DISORDERS IN THE ELDERLY

The diagnosis and treatment of reactive airways disease in elderly pat ients with cardiovascular disease are complicated both by similarities in presenting symptoms and by the potential for one disorder's pharma cologic therapy to exacerbate the other. Because both heart disease an d asthma are common in elderly adults, their coexistence and interacti on in an individual patient are frequently encountered and are often a vexing clinical problem. This article is written from the point of vi ew of consulting cardiologists, who are often asked to comment on card iac causes of dyspnea and the safety of certain medications in patient s with heart disease.