- Email: [email protected]
KL-01: Longevity for future Europeans – Genes and lifestyle
European Geriatric Medicine 6S1 (2015) S1–S4
Available online at
ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com
Keynote lectures KL-01 Longevity for future Europeans – Genes and lifestyle
KL-04 Anti-aging medicine
K. Christensen The Danish Twin Registry, Odense C, Denmark
V. Calabrese University of Catania, Italy
A rapidly increasing proportion of individuals in the Europe are surviving into their tenth decade. While there is no doubt that we are doing well in making the elderly survive better than previously, the key questions are whether this will continue, what the underlying mechanisms are, and whether we are also doing good for the oldest-old. There is widespread concern that the basis for the survival success is better survival of frail and disabled elderly into the highest ages, the so-called “Failure of Success Hypothesis”. An alternative hypothesis is that we are experiencing a “Success of Success”, i.e., an increasing proportion of the population is living to the highest ages in better health than previous generations. The planning of and policy development for the future care of the oldest-old will be highly dependent on whether one or both genders are experiencing the “Failure of Success” or the “Success of Success” as they may reach the highest ages. This scientific knowledge is of fundamental importance for the sustainability of modern societies.
Symptomatic Medicine operates only when the disease becomes manifest, in the attempt to identify and contrast disease progression. Even the concept of check up is based on biochemical and instrumental analysis (echography, radiology, . . . ) aims at detecting (but not preventing) signals from factors triggering the pathological process. Preventive Medicine, on the contrary, invests in health by implementing preventive strategies aimed at mitigating the risk of disease and inverting the chronic pathological process. Anti-aging medicine is a sort of preventive medicine, namely a healthy aging medicine, which is the result of the gerontology research on human aging and has the scope of keeping the patient in a state of health and wellness. Anti-aging medicine has been fairly developed over the last decade due to discoveries in the field of genetics, pharmacology, biotechnology, nano-technology and info-technology; as a consequence, it has invaded the field of traditional symptomatic medicine by progressively integrating the traditional with the innovative approach, acquiring scientific dignity and restoring the original intent of the medical mission, which is to prevent and/or modify, rather than post-pone, the onset of disease. Anti-aging medicine is not an end in itself, rather it is an appropriate tool to determine the health level at any given time and to implement preventive interventions to protect health from a potential disease risk. As a result, anti-aging medicine should be considered a healthcare approach, which is focused on the prevention of disease and life span increase, in contrast to symptomatic treatment; therefore, it cannot be simply a medical procedure, nevertheless it should be adopted from the health system and healthcare professionals. In conclusion, anti-aging medicine is a predictive medicine because it can predict, via genetic testing, the onset and development of a pathological process in any cells of the organisms. In addition, it is an holistic medicine as it considers the physiological and/or pathological processes of our cells at a global level and in real time. It is also a preventive medicine that enables to discover what has been manifesting or will be manifest in the near or long term future; along with this, it allows to implement interventions that are able to prevent, modify, delay progression, postpone the onset or block these biological processes. Moreover, it is a regenerative medicine because it is capable of acting directly onto mechanisms of cellular regenerations. Finally, anti-aging medicine is a complementary medicine as it completes the traditional medicine, although with different timing and modalities.
KL-02 The world is aging, but individuals are not: what can we expect in the future? L. Fratiglioni Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden It is the first time in the history of mankind that the proportion of the aged population (conventionally identified as 65+) is growing steadily worldwide. This is a relatively new phenomenon that started in the industrialized countries and has now also reached less developed areas of the world. Unfortunately, we have mostly focused our attention on the negative consequences linked to the aging of the population. This increasing focus on the negative aspects has already led to deleterious consequences for individuals who are frightened, for example, at the appearance of the first signs of memory decline that are not always related to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. We need to implement a more scientific attitude in our approach to health and illness in old age. During recent decades population-based studies have made tremendous progress showing that aging is not necessarily linked to disease and disability. Health status in late life is a result of the complex interaction of genetic susceptibility, biological factors, and environmental exposure, experienced over the whole life span. Current evidence strongly supports the important role of lifestyles and health behaviors – including nutrition, physical activity and psychosocial factors – and vascular burden in the pathogenetic process and clinical manifestation of several agerelated diseases such as dementia and multimorbidity. It is expected that interventions leading towards the promotion of healthy behaviors, the optimal control of vascular factors; the maintenance of a socially-integrated lifestyle and mentally-stimulating activities may lead to a longer and healthier life after the age of 75.
1878-7649//$ – see front matter © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS and European Union Geriatric Medicine Society. All rights reserved.
Available online at
ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com
Keynote lectures KL-01 Longevity for future Europeans – Genes and lifestyle
KL-04 Anti-aging medicine
K. Christensen The Danish Twin Registry, Odense C, Denmark
V. Calabrese University of Catania, Italy
A rapidly increasing proportion of individuals in the Europe are surviving into their tenth decade. While there is no doubt that we are doing well in making the elderly survive better than previously, the key questions are whether this will continue, what the underlying mechanisms are, and whether we are also doing good for the oldest-old. There is widespread concern that the basis for the survival success is better survival of frail and disabled elderly into the highest ages, the so-called “Failure of Success Hypothesis”. An alternative hypothesis is that we are experiencing a “Success of Success”, i.e., an increasing proportion of the population is living to the highest ages in better health than previous generations. The planning of and policy development for the future care of the oldest-old will be highly dependent on whether one or both genders are experiencing the “Failure of Success” or the “Success of Success” as they may reach the highest ages. This scientific knowledge is of fundamental importance for the sustainability of modern societies.
Symptomatic Medicine operates only when the disease becomes manifest, in the attempt to identify and contrast disease progression. Even the concept of check up is based on biochemical and instrumental analysis (echography, radiology, . . . ) aims at detecting (but not preventing) signals from factors triggering the pathological process. Preventive Medicine, on the contrary, invests in health by implementing preventive strategies aimed at mitigating the risk of disease and inverting the chronic pathological process. Anti-aging medicine is a sort of preventive medicine, namely a healthy aging medicine, which is the result of the gerontology research on human aging and has the scope of keeping the patient in a state of health and wellness. Anti-aging medicine has been fairly developed over the last decade due to discoveries in the field of genetics, pharmacology, biotechnology, nano-technology and info-technology; as a consequence, it has invaded the field of traditional symptomatic medicine by progressively integrating the traditional with the innovative approach, acquiring scientific dignity and restoring the original intent of the medical mission, which is to prevent and/or modify, rather than post-pone, the onset of disease. Anti-aging medicine is not an end in itself, rather it is an appropriate tool to determine the health level at any given time and to implement preventive interventions to protect health from a potential disease risk. As a result, anti-aging medicine should be considered a healthcare approach, which is focused on the prevention of disease and life span increase, in contrast to symptomatic treatment; therefore, it cannot be simply a medical procedure, nevertheless it should be adopted from the health system and healthcare professionals. In conclusion, anti-aging medicine is a predictive medicine because it can predict, via genetic testing, the onset and development of a pathological process in any cells of the organisms. In addition, it is an holistic medicine as it considers the physiological and/or pathological processes of our cells at a global level and in real time. It is also a preventive medicine that enables to discover what has been manifesting or will be manifest in the near or long term future; along with this, it allows to implement interventions that are able to prevent, modify, delay progression, postpone the onset or block these biological processes. Moreover, it is a regenerative medicine because it is capable of acting directly onto mechanisms of cellular regenerations. Finally, anti-aging medicine is a complementary medicine as it completes the traditional medicine, although with different timing and modalities.
KL-02 The world is aging, but individuals are not: what can we expect in the future? L. Fratiglioni Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden It is the first time in the history of mankind that the proportion of the aged population (conventionally identified as 65+) is growing steadily worldwide. This is a relatively new phenomenon that started in the industrialized countries and has now also reached less developed areas of the world. Unfortunately, we have mostly focused our attention on the negative consequences linked to the aging of the population. This increasing focus on the negative aspects has already led to deleterious consequences for individuals who are frightened, for example, at the appearance of the first signs of memory decline that are not always related to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. We need to implement a more scientific attitude in our approach to health and illness in old age. During recent decades population-based studies have made tremendous progress showing that aging is not necessarily linked to disease and disability. Health status in late life is a result of the complex interaction of genetic susceptibility, biological factors, and environmental exposure, experienced over the whole life span. Current evidence strongly supports the important role of lifestyles and health behaviors – including nutrition, physical activity and psychosocial factors – and vascular burden in the pathogenetic process and clinical manifestation of several agerelated diseases such as dementia and multimorbidity. It is expected that interventions leading towards the promotion of healthy behaviors, the optimal control of vascular factors; the maintenance of a socially-integrated lifestyle and mentally-stimulating activities may lead to a longer and healthier life after the age of 75.
1878-7649//$ – see front matter © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS and European Union Geriatric Medicine Society. All rights reserved.