THE POSTER OF LONG LIFE
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"The poster of life" written by Paul Marandola and Francesco Marotta, president and scientific director of the Gaia Foundation, the Foundation created exclusively for cultural and scientific Antiaging medicine to deal with on a noncommercial basis, and with a preface oncologist Umberto Veronesi speaks of predictive medicine and Antiaging. The main objective is to provide the tools to reach and exceed 100 years in good health.
In recent years, the total national health expenditure has increased by 81% and the main causes of death and disability were the chronic degenerative diseases, particularly cardio-cerebrovascular which are basically predictable and preventable.
This book explores the new frontiers of prevention, combining information on the human genome and the gene that cures can be an effective prevention tool, touching themes of the latest scientific innovations (such as nanorobots explorers who can travel inside the human body monitoring the state of health of organs and systems) and making the point about the importance of quality of life or mental health.
Here is the interview with Professor Professor Francesco Marotta:
How did the project?
We wanted to do this book, write it in both hands, citing names of the most important Italian and foreign, because you could explain to the attentive reader, and all the doctors, such as options, starting from the cell, are now possible to slow down aging or at least reduce the incidence of age-related diseases: the problem is not so much to extend life, but not to spend the last 20 or 30 years with a number of chronic diseases, thus not living but surviving.
The book introduces the topic of anti-aging medicine as a more focused and effective to the problem of prevention: what is it?
The anti-aging medicine is primarily aimed at maintaining health rather than to cure the disease, and may help to increase our life expectancy.
Compared to the medical office, which is a medicine of disease and looks poorly integrated in different fields of action, is developing anti-aging medicine which aims to provide solutions to the requirements of health and wellness that conventional medicine can not , instead, to respond.
The anti-aging medicine has a holistic approach and aims to be a truly preventive medicine because it looks at stages prior to illness: Look no symptoms, but the initial signs of alteration of various body systems.
Unfortunately at the moment it is a private proposal, with all the risks that this entails: in many cases, strong values and a few commercial validation, and then raises uncertainty and skepticism.For this reason, together with Professor Marandola, we wanted to write a book in which he explained to the reader, without being too heavy, what is the cell and how it works, and then give the tools as much as possible information and proactive, to each ' inside of each of our areas of expertise, which is gastroenterologists, geriatricians or neurologists. Indeed, there are, however, areas of interest that they understand how health interventions, not the disease, there may be in any field, but are in fact, at present, poorly integrated. We also added some details on solutions and possible future research, but do not overdo it: we did not want to write a book of fiction.
So what's the difference between predictive medicine and preventative medicine?
Today is a medicine of the health practice, but a medical disease. You go in a physician for an ailment, so when there is a disease.
Many disorders, and I'm not the most serious, in fact may be harbingers of a future disease: the disorder often is a symptom, but in many cases is treated and made to disappear with a symptomatic drug, underestimating the fact that it can be an indicator of a larger problem that, sooner or later, you will pay the price.
Now there is a guardian of health, there is a social medicine, and ours is excellent compared to many other states, despite what he says. The eight months of waiting for a MOC (Computed Mineralometria Bone, a test that is used to measure the density of bone mass and helps identify those most at risk for osteoporotic fractures, ed) or ultrasound, unfortunately, there are: However, if your doctor programmasse examinations for the purpose of public health really quote a few months to wait for a MOC would not be a problem. What does not work is it to menopausal woman, because a woman with postmenopausal osteoporosis, despite all the calcium and vitamin D which may, will not make it almost never have a healthy bone like that of a young person. It's a losing battle, because you are in a situation where you can just "putting patches" but the MOC continues to be prescribed only to women already in menopause.
To give an example: I have 51 years and 4 years ago I underwent a MOC though, as a man and sportsman who has always had a diet high in dairy products, are - according to the doctrine - placed in jeopardy bottom of osteoporosis, but instead it turned out that I was osteopenico, that I had osteoporosis, but in any case I presented a situation which suggested that a future risk.The medicine you play right there, being ever earlier in understanding what will be a problem later. Undergo tests for diagnostic purposes only, when you know that you will identify some disease already in place, it is not preventive medicine, it is a scam semantics.
What are the new frontiers of preventive medicine and health?
One is the genome is the new playing field of medicine and medicine is increasingly entering the applicable even outside the lab. Thanks to advances in the study of the human genome is possible to have more information on hereditary predispositions. At one time, identify possible hereditary diseases was the task of the family doctor, through a thorough knowledge of family medical history of their patients. But his could not but be sensible conjecture.
Today genomics can give more precise answers and, through genomic tests, we can find out if we are carrying harmful inheritance. This discipline is entering hospitals and is becoming accessible for ease and cost, while until recently was unapproachable, not only costs, but also to the time of analysis, which were very long.
The sense of genomics today is not only to weigh the risk of a disease, which is a modifiable variable, but to tell us whether there are modifiable variables related to our inheritance, if we are "under construction" disease or not, and this, with caution , is a very important tool in the hands of a doctor. If your doctor knows that a risk is written in our genes and our RNA (gene transcription) is also transcribing this defect can be more accurate in deciding which rules of life advice, when prescribing, for example in the case of those who have predisposition to mature hypertension, physical activity of aerobic rather than anaerobic (gym and lifting weights), in deciding to increase the intake of antioxidants etc..
But you are not likely to create some hysteria about the health? Surely it is true what he says, but it would be endless tests to which you could refer? There are lines of conduct to regulate this practice to prevent - or prediction - is reasonable and not hysterical and compulsive? Also, many people would be reluctant to undergo an examination genomic, because they will not find out, where appropriate, to develop a disease for which some people believe that there are no serious chance of cure: it is a question that many would like to have.
Lines of conduct? I would say yes, if one of my parents are hypertensive or diabetic, even without resorting to genomics is normal to think that there is in me a predisposition to such diseases.
On the second point, I would like to say that I think that the main enemy is terrorism information and fatalism: genetics is a complex issue that can not be reduced to statements like "you're so in your nature and you get sick" is not true, a lot needs to be done and can be done. Having this information in hand, you can proactively manage the situation.
Unfortunately, on the issues of genetics, there is a lot of ignorance and it tends to confuse the concept of "I have a disease" with that of "run the risk of developing it." Undoubtedly, unfortunately, there are genetic diseases, and very serious, which develop over the years: an example is Huntington's disease. Knowing that I have written in the genes such a thing is really a sword of Damocles. Here, however, we are not talking of genetic diseases, but of major chronic diseases, such as cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, which are those that have the greatest weight in terms of mortality, wear and deterioration of the living conditions of many of us in the last two or three decades of life. We need to see these tests in a proactive way, I must not expect that I will be definitely a hypertensive if my dad is and my genomic say I have this predisposition, because then genomics affect the environmental variables. Simply a matter of knowing what time to work on my lifestyle is more appropriate to do.
Among the possible actions in your book also spoken of power ...
Yes, today has been coined a new word, which is nutraceutical: it is a food, or rather a part of a food, which in addition to providing vitamin elements gives a measurable benefit on physiological functions and beneficial to health.
An even stronger is to nutragenomico, or a food that acts at the cellular level, a modulating function.
Continue to insist only on the Mediterranean diet and the consumption of fruits and vegetables, as they do in television, is an understatement, because the tables of food composition are outdated and have not been updated. To explain: our tomatoes contain lycopene than once, so it is unthinkable that I take them for the specific nutrient, because for this to have nutraceutical functions (ie cell modulator) should eat a disproportionate amount. To this end, the power supply should be enriched in a personalized way, with the right nutritional supplements.
With this I'm not saying that they are substitutes food: taking pills can not take the place of nutrition, this risk may arise, against which I completely understand the hostility of nutritionists, with which I agree.
Woe to take pills rather than eat: this is a distortion of the market, trade, that we should not even consider.
But it is ancient continue to say that the Mediterranean diet protects us and protects us. It protects us than the Anglo-Saxons who have a diet with a fat intake is much higher, but we will not provide real protection and concrete.
Fish consumption has reduced mortality from cardiovascular events, but there are also studies that say that the fish full of contaminants,especially mercury, cancel or reverse the protective effects.The solution is not to eat two bass per day, but this supplement with Omega-3, if I want a nutraceutical value, so that modulates cellular functions.
She spoke of genomic tests for real prevention or prediction, however, admit that these tests are not available to everyone: not only talking about costs, but also of time, and if everyone began really to call us, the present structures would be able to meet the demand? The situation would be manageable?This is actually one of the crucial points of the question. My personal opinion is that these tests should probably be married by public medicine started to work initially to get the first results, populations at risk, for example by screening people who already have a familiarity with certain disorders.
Tony Blair has done something similar in 2004, realizing a very important document which is called White Paper, not looking for a political benefit, because the benefits of this type of medicine - preventive-predictive - you have 10, 15 years later. With the White Paper the British Minister has selected nine British hospitals and their social check-up, engaged in the medical screening, however, did include a number of genomic tests can benefit from it because the population in the controls, the aim is to understand, after some time, what benefits can bring; certainly significant economic benefits. Genomics pushes from the first and begin to become aware of the problems at the right age. It would be a huge plus for health and this is now coming to be enjoyable or at least economically acceptable. Consider that a single drop of blood, at a cost of a few hundred euro, you can study 40-50 polymorphisms, most mutations. Only seven or eight years ago there wanted a few thousand to study a single polymorphism.
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