Your heart is constantly adjusting to what you are doing and the state of your body.
As you age, yourheart adjuststo the needs of an older body.
These adjustments come with trade-offs, leaving the heart more vulnerable to disease and other problems.

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As we age, changes in the body require that the heart adjusts how it works.
As we age, our arteries become stiffer and less flexible.
These adjustments leave the heart more vulnerable.
As our blood vessels age, they become narrower, causing blood pressure to increase.
The heart compensates for this by becoming stronger and pumping with more force.
The heart may also become larger overall as a result.
Age-related mitral regurgitation is often fairly mild, but can become severe enough to require cardiac surgery.
Keep Your Heart Healthy and Reverse Heart Disease
Your heart is only as healthy as your arteries.
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