The impact of a migration-caused selection effect on regional mortality differences in Italy and Germany

-Germany, Italy, ageing, migration trends, mortality, mortality determinants, regional demography, selective migration

Survival differences among the oldest old in Sardinia: who, what, where, and why?

A study of centenarians in Sardinia detected the existence of an area where the number of centenarians is higher than elsewhere, in particularly for men. There is a widespread opinion that the existence of a greater or a lesser number of centenarians largely depends on mortality features between 80 and 100 years. This study aims to cast light on our knowledge of elderly mortality differentials, total and by cause of death, in Sardinia, and attempts to verify this hypothesis. To do so, an analysis is conducted of age and sex mortality trends over time at province and municipality level. Results fully confirm the underlying hypothesis.causes of death, centenarians, geography of mortality, Italy, life expectancy, mortality, oldest old, Sardinia, survival differences

The effects of war losses on mortality estimates for Italy

For countries that experience substantial war losses in a given time period, the exclusion of military deaths can have an important impact on estimates of mortality and life expectancy. In this paper, we start by reviewing Vallin’s work in accounting for French war losses. We then attempt to apply comparable methods to Italy in order to account for the effects of war. The results indicate that estimates currently available from the Human Mortality Database (HMD) greatly underestimate period mortality during wartime among all Italian males, and may even underestimate mortality among civilian males. Finally, we discuss how failing to account for war mortality presents problems in making inter-country mortality comparisons.civilian, France, Italy, life expectancy, military, mortality, war, war losses, war mortality

In Memoriam: Professor James W. Vaupel

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Modeling of Immunosenescence and Risk of Death from Respiratory Infections: Evaluation of the Role of Antigenic Load and Population Heterogeneity

It is well known that efficacy of immune functions declines with age. It results in an increase of severity and duration of respiratory infections and also in dramatic growth of risk of death due to these diseases after age 65. The goal of this work is to describe and investigate the mechanism underlying the age pattern of the mortality rate caused by infectious diseases and to determine the cause-specific hazard rate as a function of immune system characteristics. For these purposes we develop a three-compartment model explaining observed risk-of-death. The model incorporates up-to-date knowledge about cellular mechanisms of aging, disease dynamics, population heterogeneity in resistance to infections, and intrinsic aging rate. The results of modeling show that the age-trajectory of mortality caused by respiratory infections may be explained by the value of antigenic load, frequency of infections and the rate of aging of the stem cell population (i.e. the population of T-lymphocyte progenitor cells). The deceleration of infection-induced mortality at advanced age can be explained by selection of individuals with a slower rate of stem cell aging. Parameter estimates derived from fitting mortality data indicate that infection burden was monotonically decreasing during the twentieth century, and changes in total antigenic load were gender-specific: it experienced periodic fluctuations in males and increased approximately two-fold in females

Immigrazione, salute e mortalità degli stranieri in Italia

*** Sommario *** 1.Introduzione. 2. Gli stranieri in Italia: un fenomeno dalle molte facce. 3. La salute della popolazione straniera residente in Italia. 3.1. Salute percepita, malattie croniche e limitazioni delle attività. 3.2.Ospedalizzazione, salute riproduttiva, infortuni e malattie professionali. 4. La mortalità degli stranieri residenti. 4.1. La mortalità infantile. 4.2. La mortalità degli adulti: totale e per causa. 5. Conclusioni: un futuro difficile da prevedere. *** SINTESI *** Lo scopo principale di questo lavoro è quello di presentare un’analisi della salute e della mortalità degli stranieri residenti nel nostro paese alla luce delle informazioni esistenti, partendo, però, da un quadro il più ampio possibile dell’immigrazione e delle caratteristiche della popolazione straniera. La prima parte del lavoro è, pertanto, dedicata alla descrizione dell’evoluzione del fenomeno migratorio, condotta partendo dalle statistiche ufficiali disponibili. In particolare, viene evidenziata la sua complessità e articolazione in termini di paesi di provenienza dei migranti, considerando le motivazioni del loro spostamento e le caratteristiche demografiche e sociali, con cenni alle modalità di insediamento sul territorio italiano e all’inserimento nel mercato del lavoro. La seconda parte del lavoro affronta il tema delle condizioni di salute degli immigrati/stranieri, facendo ricorso ai dati dell’indagine realizzata dall’Istituto nazionale di statistica (Istat) nel 2009 su “Reddito e condizioni di vita delle famiglie con stranieri” e prendendo in esame tre dimensioni del fenomeno: la salute percepita, le limitazioni delle attività legate alle condizioni di salute (o salute funzionale) e la presenza di malattie croniche. Le rilevazioni correnti disponibili consentono di rivolgere uno sguardo anche alle condizioni di accesso ai servizi sanitari e di analizzare la salute riproduttiva, gli incidenti sul lavoro e le malattie professionali. Questi aspetti particolari consentono di mettere in luce alcune delle questioni più significative delle condizioni di salute della popolazione straniera che vive sul territorio italiano

Maternal longevity is associated with lower infant mortality

OBJECTIVE Referring to the multidisciplinary and multipurpose survey AKeA2, and focusing on family genealogy data on centenarian women and controls, this paper aims to verify the hypothesis that maternal longevity is associated with lower infant mortality in offspring, after having controlled for fertility characteristics, familial longevity and some contextual variables. METHODS The association between the longevity of a mother and her children's infant mortality level was assessed using a multivariate Poisson Regression Model with robust estimates, which is suitable for estimating consistently and efficiently the relative risk when binary data are used. RESULTS Our results show an association between longevity and infant mortality among the children of the Sardinians who survived to become centenarians. Infant mortality is significantly lower for children belonging to a mother born and living in Sassari and Oristano than Nuoro, close to each other and both located on the Western coast.</br

Pathophysiology of ageing, longevity and age related diseases

On April 18, 2007 an international meeting on Pathophysiology of Ageing, Longevity and Age-Related Diseases was held in Palermo, Italy. Several interesting topics on Cancer, Immunosenescence, Age-related inflammatory diseases and longevity were discussed. In this report we summarize the most important issues. However, ageing must be considered an unavoidable end point of the life history of each individual, nevertheless the increasing knowledge on ageing mechanisms, allows envisaging many different strategies to cope with, and delay it. So, a better understanding of pathophysiology of ageing and age-related disease is essential for giving everybody a reasonable chance for living a long and enjoyable final part of the life