Arterial Stiffness and Arterial Aging

The process of population ageing that is occurring in developed societies represents a major challenge for the health system. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in the world, representing half of the deaths in people over 65 years old. Among the CVD, systemic arterial hypertension is related to more than half of those outcomes [1]. The non-modifiable cause of vascular ageing in healthy adults is age, because it causes increased arterial stiffness and changes in chromosome replication with telomere shortening [2]. The comparison of biological age with chronological age allows us to establish if the pattern of vascular ageing is at an expected or accelerated rate, which means if early vascular ageing is present or not [1,2]. Arterial stiffness is mainly determined by sex, age, and blood pressure [1,2].