Therapy response variability in elder cardiac patients

Cardiovascular drugs are among the most prescribed medications in the world and, despite their proven effectiveness, there is a large variability in the therapeutic response in term of both efficacy and tolerability with remarkable clinical consequences especially in elderly patients. Additionally, cardiovascular patients respond in a changing manner also to non-pharmacological therapeutic approaches, such as antioxidants supplementation and exercise training. This review focuses on factors, including biochemical and molecular variables, comorbidity, polypharmacy and life-style that may influence the response to the common cardiovascular pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, paying particular attention to the emergent issue of cardiovascular pharmacogenetics.