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Restoration of a full life to those patients salvaged in ever increasing numbers from the imminent doom of heart disease now requires special new techniques that go far beyond support of vital functions alone. Estimated to number 18 million in the United States today, patients with heart disease have become the leading users of medical services and can be expected only to increase the intensity of their demands in future years.
While less than 2% of adults 18 to 24 years of age show signs and symptoms of heart disease, more than 40% of those 75 to 79 years of age, show such signs. As the population grows older and the incidence of heart disease grows with it, the importance of utilizing the skills within that aging population becomes important, not only to preserve the integrity of that society itself, but also to preserve the feeling of personal worth of