IJCS | Volume 33, Nº4, July and August 2020

The article published in this issue was a cross- sectional, observational study of participants enrolled in the AGA@4life project, developed to evaluate the effects of several interventions (psychological, physical and nutritional therapy). The aim of the preliminary analysis was to identify the main determinants of arterial stiffness in the very old, identifying the factors that may accelerate arterial ageing and potential routes for preventive actions targeting the maintenance of vascular health. The study enrolled 54 elderly aged between 65 and 94 years from a day care center, in Vilarinho, Portugal. 9 Arterial stiffness was obtained by an oscillometric method that uses the Mobil-O-Graph, a method validated in previous studies. Hypertension was observed in the large majority of the participants (80%) which, in its isolated form, is an important cardiovascular risk factor; however, only 64% were under treatment. Aging was seen as a determinant factor for PWV and blood pressure, and there was an intrinsic relationship between PWV and blood pressure. The study also showed an association between PWV and renal function, as well as frailty. Most of the knowledge on accelerated vascular aging has been acquired from the general population, not including the most advanced age group. Therefore, researches on arterial stiffness in the elderly, such as the one carried out by theAGA@4life project, 9 are important to develop adequate and useful intervention programs for a better cardiovascular protection of this group. 1. World Health Organization. (WHO). A global brief on hypertension: silent killer, global public health crisis. Geneva; 2013. 2. Nilsson PM, Boutouyrie P, Laurent S. Vascular aging: A tale of EVA and ADAM in cardiovascular risk assessment and prevention. Hypertension. 2009;54(1):3-10. 3. Ben-Shlomo Y,Spears M, Boustred C, May M, Anderson SG, Benjamin E, et al. Aortic pulse wave velocity improves cardiovascular event prediction: an individual participant meta-analysis of prospective observational data from 17,635 subjects. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63(7):636-46. 4. Mikael LR, Paiva AM, Gomes MM, Euzebio MB, Jardim PCB, Vitorino PVO, et al. Vascular Aging and Arterial Stiffness. Arq Bras Cardiol.2017;109(3):253-8. 5. Roman MJ, Devereux R, Kiezer JR, Lee ET, Gallowby JM, Howard BV. Central pressure more strongly relates to vascular disease and outcomthan does brachial pressure: the Strong Heart Study. Hypertension. 2007;50(1):197-203. 6. Dzau VJ, Antman EM, Black HR, Hayes DL, Manson JE, Plutzky J, Popma JJ, et al. The cardiovascular disease continuum validated: clinical evidence of improved patient outcomes: part I: Pathophysiology and clinical trial evidence (risk factors through stable coronary artery disease). Circulation.2006;114(25):2850-70. 7. Li X, Liu P, Ren Y, An J, Dong Y. Arterial stiffness and cognitive impairment. J Neurol Sci. 2017 Sep 15; 380:1-10. 8. OrkabyA,LunettaKL,SunF,DriverJA,BenjaminEJ,HamburgNM,etal.Cross- SectionalAssociation of Frailty andArterial Stiffness inCommunity-Dwelling OlderAdults: The FraminghamHeart Study. J Gerontol.2019. 74(3):373-9. 9. Pereira T, Costa T. Determinants of Arterial Stiffness and VascularAging in the Older Adult. Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2020; 33(4):349-356. DOI: https:// doi.org/10.36660/ijcs.20190068 References 359 Campana & Inuzuka Arterial Stiffness Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2020; 33(4):357-359 Editorial This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License