Funding Successful. This project reached its goal before 05/11/2015.

The project
Friday July 10th, 2015

The research project

“Ageing is not a disease: it seems obvious, but it is important to reaffirm this concept. There are sick people, of course, but there is also a large part of the elderly who live in conditions of normality. This normality is what we have to try to defend. ” (Marco Trabucchi)

The average age in Italy and in Europe is increasing, with an imbalance in favor of the elderly population. This means for example that in 2060 there will be a 30% increase in people over 65 years of age and a simultaneous reduction of the working-age population.

Fitness of mind and body is essential to maintaining a good quality of life even in old age. Because of the ageing of the population there has been an increase of diseases associated with ageing such as forms of dementia including Alzheimer’s disease.

Our project wants to bring an innovative model in the study of ageing. We have embarked on a path with the aim to study, along with the elderly, the aspects of physical and mental health, with the aim to determine the best strategies for maintaining health and to determine which elements can predict physical and cognitive impairment related to ageing.

Our team includes researchers from the University of Pavia and the Golgi Cenci Foundation of Abbiategrasso. The innovation of our research is based on the involvement of older people, relying on their motivation to collaborate in the research itself. The territorial dimension of the project, started by the Golgi Cenci Foundation, involved in the study all the elderly residents in Abbiategrasso and born between 1935 and 1939 (Studio InVeCeAb) and to date we have involved more than 1,000 people. They have been followed for five years. We recalled them periodically to record the changes that have occurred. We know their lifestyles and the social context in which they are inserted, the conditions of physical and mental health. Furthermore, the participants have agreed to leave a blood sample for DNA extraction. All these information is a valuable archive on which to deduce useful information on the study population, but extended also to the elderly population in general. This study is producing and has already produced important results published in international journals. Our project therefore addresses fundamental issues such as the study of mental functions in aging, the anatomic changes, pathophysiological and biochemical changes in the elderly and in people with dementia, comparing them with the aging of people not cognitively impaired, and finally the study of the bases leading to genetic risk of developing physical and mental decay.

Our research aims to answer some questions, many with significant social implications that would not be possible without the adoption of our model of study:

– Are the biology and genetics useful to identify the “markers” that are real risks to the development of diseases related to aging such as dementia? Can we identify these individuals and distinguish them from those who age normally?

– What is the prevalence of cognitive disorders and dementia and what influence they have on the appearance of dementia factors with correlation to the history of individuals and populations? For example, is there such a role for gender (male to female), is there a role of education, type of work performed or social habits, relationships and food ?. Do the stressful life events play a role in the onset of cognitive disorders?

– Do the elderly take appropriate medications and that is there a risk due to lack of prescriptive appropriateness or inappropriate information?

A partial answer to these questions will allow to implement prevention programs aimed at at-risk population and to contribute to the physical and mental wellbeing of the elderly population. We believe that the model we have adopted may be, in the face of continuous and intense evolution of research, extended to other territories and widespread as the primary model for studies for the elderly

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LINK

http://www.golgicenci.it/
http://www.alzheimer.it/
http://cheba.unsw.edu.au/content/cosmic-studies
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01345110?term=abbiategrasso&rank=1
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01793493?term=abbiategrasso&rank=3

Goals

Unfortunately, beyond the expertise of our team not many researchers are willing to invest their careers in a field of research as studies on ageing.

For this we need to train and involve young researchers in the team giving them a scholarship.

The funding will go to support the work of a early career young researcher with a financial commitment aimed at covering a scholarship.

Support our commitment in this research FOR the elderly and WITH the elderly.

Please donate and with your donation you will adopt a researcher!

We set ourselves three objectives of increasing impact:

Initial Target: 30.000 €

One year scholarship

Intermediate target: € 60,000

Two-year scholarship

Final target: € 90 000

Three years of scholarship

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Rewards

For donations above 200 €

A personal quotation in the acknowledgments in all scientific papers resulting from the project.

Team

Visualizza CV

Racchi Marco

Prof. | Founder

Racchi Marco

Prof. | Founder

Associate Professor of Pharmacology

CV RACCHI

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Antonio Guaita

Prof.

Antonio Guaita

Prof.
Director of the Golgi Cenci Foundation CV GUAITA
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Cristina Lanni

Prof.

Cristina Lanni

Prof.
Professor of Pharmacology CV LANNI
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Letizia Polito

Dott.

Letizia Polito

Dott.
Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of the Golgi Fondazione Cenci CV POLITO
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Antonella Pinto

PhD

Antonella Pinto

PhD
PhD Student in Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Pavia CV PINTO
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Roberta Vaccaro

Dott.

Roberta Vaccaro

Dott.
Neuropsychologist, Head of the Laboratory of Neuropsychology Foundation Golgi Cenci CV VACCARO
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Melania M. Serafini

PhD

Melania M. Serafini

PhD

PhD Student in Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Pavia

CV SERAFINI

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  • Minimum Donation

  • For donations above 200 €: a personal quotation in the acknowledgments in all scientific papers resulting from the project.

  • FFor donation of 50€ you will receive a commemorative bracelet of the fundraising campaign