“In Italy we live longer, but less and less in health: our expectation of a healthy life is among the lowest in Europe, we are now in fifteenth place. The last ten years of our life, statistically speaking, are not of good quality ”. Silvio Garattini, internationally renowned scientist and pharmacologist, president of the “Mario Negri” Institute of Pharmacological Research in Milan, has no doubts: “From the qualitative point of view of existence, Italy is the worst country in Europe”. The causes? He tells them in his latest book entitled Aging well (ed. LSWR) in which, not only it explains why we have to face such complicated situations as we age, but also indicates which correct behaviors to adopt to prevent those pathologies that after 70 will afflict us and that we could instead avoid. When to start looking after our old age? “Right from the start”, Garattini says bluntly, “Health education must begin at school and must be maintained”.
Do we make the same mistakes all our life? Do we never get wise?
“Diseases do not rain down on us, poor quality of life is caused by an accumulation of diseases. While before the pathologies were single, today we are witnessing what is called the polymorbidità, that is, the elderly are suffering from several diseases at the same time. The reason is bad habits that we often maintain for a long time. In fact, there are few people who become aware when they have not yet entered that phase of life in which one is forced to change course. Take, for example, smoking or food: incorrect behaviors pay off as you age and are related to heart disease, lung disease, cancer. Yet in Italy, we have a high obesity rate and that reflects the habit of overeating and leading a sedentary life. Weight gain induces type 2 diabetes, heart and respiratory diseases, tumors. Caloric contraction is a good viaticum for a good old age, as well as the habit of physical and mental exercise ”
Elderly people: frailty is prevented with diet and lifestyle
by Donatella Zorzetto
What does “aging well” mean today?
“We must not give more years to life, but more life to years. And nothing will change if we don’t tackle the real issue, namely prevention. And to do this, we need a kind of cultural revolution. Changes only happen if the culture of health changes. How Covid and this pandemic taught us “.
How?
“Prevention is a forgotten word in our National Health Service because it annoys the medicine market. There is a conflict of interest over drugs, above all, a sector for which 30 billion are spent every year. A huge conflict of interest then concerns the smoking market: the state collects 13 billion in smoking taxes every year that cause 70,000 deaths every year. This is why I say that, when it comes to prevention, it is about tackling a cultural problem. It invests other interests, not only the scientific ones “.
Covid: irritability, anxiety and apathy. The life of seniors with dementia worsens
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Should we invest in prevention, therefore, instead of in treatment?
“Citizens must understand from an early age that everything we do against our health affects not only ourselves, but the whole of society. Other components of society must participate in the change. Sociologists, psychologists, advertisers, communication experts. The entire civil society must be involved to help the state create this culture of prevention ”.
Could the pandemic be an occasion for this cultural revolution?
“It could, but we do little. I mostly see fear, anxiety, rather than wanting to understand what went wrong. We have a great chance now to turn things around. It is the right time, but if we wait for everything to return to normal, nothing will happen. Changes are made when there is a certain level of emotion, because when things are ‘normal’, nothing changes. We know that many diseases are caused by bad lifestyles and that 70% of cancers are avoidable. We need a cultural revolution that gives priority to prevention: diseases are the defeat of medicine. We have to change the National Health Service ”.
In one year of the pandemic, the elderly were the people most at risk
“Society is aging and perhaps it has been realized that the elderly are a very important part of society. Not just a burden, but an opportunity. Many work throughout the third sector. They are extraordinary forces that perhaps replace the answers that the state does not give or gives with difficulty “
Speaking of prevention, after a year of economic difficulties, the risk of an increase in the poverty rate is very evident. How it will affect the health of the elderly. What can the health service do?
“There is no doubt that the adoption of incorrect lifestyles are influenced by social and economic factors. Interventions require broader national efforts. It is necessary to support the spread of risk factor control and reduction activities, especially with regard to the most disadvantaged social groups. With prevention tools accessible to all citizens “
Lockdown: how to help the elderly
by Valeria Pini
In your book, you devote a chapter to the controversial topic of anti-aging drugs
“There are elderly people who take 15-20 medicines a day without knowing if they are good or bad. Or, they make an unjustified consumption of psychotropic drugs and antidepressants. They are also prescribed to those who do not need them. The problem is that there is no independent information for doctors who are subjected only to what the pharmaceutical companies say. It is surprising that the medical order does not make a dispute for independent information instead of relying exclusively on the pharmaceutical industry. There is a lot to change. “
Professor give us advice for a healthy old age?
“Take as few drugs as possible, do not take unnecessary supplements, do not smoke, do not overdo alcohol, have a varied and moderate diet. Exercise, not only physical, but also intellectual, and sleep: the right amount of sleep allows us to rehabilitate our activity. And then to have relationships with others. Social life helps us to live better and longer. Many tend not to plan the post-retirement period while instead we can finally express all their abilities “.
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