Cleveland Clinic is enhancing its heart care for older adults with the opening of a Cardiovascular Center on Aging in the Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute. The new center integrates care from geriatric and cardiac specialists to better address the unique needs of older adults, aged 65 and above, living with cardiovascular disease.
“As the population ages, we must evolve how we deliver care,” said Samir Kapadia, M.D., department chair of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. “By integrating geriatric expertise into cardiovascular treatment, we can better support the individual needs of older adults and improve their overall outcomes.”
Heart disease is the leading cause of illness and death, especially among older adults. As people age, their bodies go through changes that affect how diseases develop and how treatments work. These changes can vary among individuals depending on chronic health issues, genetics, lifestyle, and environment. Aging also causes specific changes in the heart and blood vessels, leading to different symptoms, disease progression, and responses to medications or procedures.
To provide personalized cardiovascular care plans for older adults, the center brings together a multidisciplinary team that includes cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, pharmacists, and geriatricians. Interventional cardiologist, Abdulla Damluji, M.D., Ph.D. is leading as the center’s director.
The new center utilizes an integrated approach including clinical care, research, and education. It focuses on patient-centered outcomes and addresses age-related risks, such as frailty, multiple health conditions, medication challenges and cognitive impairment, which can affect a patient’s treatment.
Key features include specialized inpatient consults with geriatric and cardiac providers, preprocedural assessments, comprehensive outpatient assessments, and tailored cardiac rehabilitation programs that promote functional independence and mobility after acute cardiovascular illness or interventions.
“Older adults with heart disease often face challenges beyond the heart itself such as frailty, cognitive changes, and multiple chronic conditions,” said Ardeshir Hashmi, M.D., Endowed Chair of Geriatric Innovation and section chief of the Center for Geriatric Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. “By focusing on aging and what matters most to older adults, we can tailor treatments that improve quality of life.”
The center also focuses on advancing research in cardiovascular aging and improving outcomes through patient-reported metrics and clinical trials enrolling older adults to study the safety and efficacy of drugs and devices in this population.
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