![]() ![]() Nutrition and lifestyle, through the consumption of specific food and physical activity, help to prevent and delay the onset of diseases and helps healthy aging. As a consequence, correct lifestyles, and therefore also the adoption of a balanced diet, represent the basis of prevention ( 13, 14). Indeed, the healthy aging concept isn’t just related to the amount of years a subject lived, but is closely linked to the quality of life, as well as to the amount of healthy active years he spent. As a consequence, the best solution for Healthy Aging is not represented by diseases treatments, but through the adoption of a correct lifestyle able to prevent their onset, as well as the age-related nutritional frailty. The environment in which we live obviously affects the possibility of healthy aging, because it contributes and affects people quality of life, thus playing a key role in avoiding chronic diseases. Functional ability includes a person’s ability to meet their basic needs, learn, grow and make decisions, their possibility of walking freely, building or maintaining relationships, thus contributing to the society needing. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined Healthy Ageing as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age” ( 2). Today, this trend not only resulted in a wide revolution of health concept, but it also led to the consolidation of the “healthy aging” concept, obviously referring to disease-free aging. Indeed, health expenditure for age-related pathological conditions has significant brunt on the economy of many countries, especially those highly industrialized with great health care levels ( 10, 11) this suggests the need for Health Policy makers to implement and revise the strategies to improve controlling for factors such as expenditure on health care, the existing burden of non-communicable disease and the age profile of the population ( 12). This is worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic (Coronavirus Disease 2019), today showed that the elderly is those most at risk of severe respiratory disease and higher mortality in this last year the increased risk of developing the severe form of COVID-19 related to age has been studied ( 8, 9). The rapid aging of the population implies chain reactions on nations’ economy, from productive sectors to medical fields. In addition, to chronic diseases of adulthood, the use of multiple medications is often mandatory in the management of the common ailments: defined «polytherapy» ( 7). In fact, the advanced age also represents the main risk factor for developing chronic diseases (CD) also associated to high costs of diagnosis, treatment, and care, such as, cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline, dementia, fragility, sarcopenia and cancer ( 5, 6). The term “inflammaging” refers to the inflammation that contributes to the aging process, increasing the probability of illness ( 4). Whereas advances and innovations in medicine increase life expectancy, on the other hand inflammation reduces these positive effects. The current life expectancy has increased, but low-grade inflammation reduces the health expectation. However, the increase in the longevity of the elderly does not imply an increase in their quality of life that constitutes a challenge to health professionals to help the growing older population not only to live longer but also healthier, better and happier ( 3). Indeed, according to the Global Health and Aging report, subjects aged 60 or older are expected to quadruple in just 4 decades, growing from an estimated 524 million in 2010 to nearly 2.1 billion in 2050, most of which living in developing countries ( 2). The world drastically changed over the few past centuries and people living on earth obviously adapted their lives and habits according to places and age they lived.Īs a consequence of the progress and innovation in all fields, also the world population and the concepts of medicine intensely changed by time, thus spreading more and more basic concepts of prevention and increasing the people number and average age ( 1). ![]()
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