The effect of disease burden on the speed of aging: an analysis of the Sardinian mortality transition

Abstract

According to the constant senescence hypothesis, senescence cannot be accelerated or decelerated by exogenous factors. Two contrasting theories have been proposed in the literature. According to the inflammaging theory, those individuals who have experienced a higher antigenic load will experience more rapid senescence. Instead, the calorie restriction theory stresses that excessive daily calorie intake can produce an acceleration in senescence.To test these theories, this paper analyzes the evolution of the rate of aging in Sardinia (Italy). In this population, the epidemiological transition started without any substantial modification in nutritional levels. This allows us to test the constant senescence hypothesis against the inflammaging theory, without the possible confounding effect produced by the nutrition transition.To accomplish this aim, the longitudinal life tables from 80 years onwards for Sardinian cohorts born between 1866 and 1908 were reconstituted. They were then used to estimate the rate of aging by means of the Gamma-Gompertz model. Coherently with the inflammaging theory, the results show that the Sardinian population experienced a dramatic decrease in the rate of aging that coincided with the onset of the epidemiological transition.

Evolution of the Dietary Patterns across Nutrition Transition in the Sardinian Longevity Blue Zone and Association with Health Indicators in the Oldest Old

“…However, the impact of NT on the global health of this population has rarely been investigated [ 25 , 26 ], and studies were mostly based on the analysis of aggregate data obtained from public sources [ 27 ], and not by directly interviewing people who can still recall their diet over the transitional period. Furthermore, the putative effect of the diet on Sardinian longevity is sometimes modelled by assuming that no spatial-temporal variations have occurred, limiting the possible extent of inference [ 28 ]. In the Sardinian LBZ, the NT started at the dawn of the 1960s [ 27 ], but proceeded slowly due to the persistence of a rural profile grounded in pastoralism and agricultural activities.…”

Variations in epiphyseal fusion and persistence of the epiphyseal line in the appendicular skeleton of two identified modern (19th–20th c.) adult Portuguese and Italian samples

“…Nevertheless, different microclimates and especially socioeconomic factors may have affected the lifestyle of their populations. Even if both samples represent populations of a low socioeconomic level, as can be seen by the distribution of labours in the samples examined (Rastelli, ), less favorable conditions in Sardinia (Salinari & Ruiu, ; Tognotti, ) than in Coimbra (Cardoso, ) may likely have played an important role in the slowing down of the closure of the metaphyses.…”