What are the general health risks associated with older divers?

There is an increased risk of fractures, decompression sickness, and atherosclerosis which rises with age. Older folks that have borderline heart failure have an increased chance of developing pulmonary oedema. Finally, older divers may have more difficulty in performing rescue maneuvers.   For example, they may have trouble climbing back onto the dive boat and may therefore not be able to support their dive buddy as effectively as a younger diver would.