The geriatrician Bernabei: “The Istat data according to which those over 105 have had a minor impact from the pandemic tells us that from an immune point of view they are ‘beasts'”. And on the increase of super-grandparents: “The human machine is built to reach 100 years, then it depends on luck. But overcoming them is a privilege only if you are healthy”
“The pandemic caused a massacre of the elderly, the average age of death was 81 years. A similar thing happened with the heat wave in 2003. These events give a ‘razor’ to the frail. ISTA hands us over “, that is” the minor impact of the pandemic on those who are 105 years old and over, makes me think that there is an incredible selection and that these super-elderly are, immunity, ‘beasts’. 105 years old and having overcome a pandemic means being longevity athletes. They look at Covid and tell it ‘step aside’ “. So at Ruetir Health Roberto Bernabei, head of Geriatrics of the Gemelli Irccs Polyclinic Foundation in Rome and former member of the Technical Scientific Committee (Cts) at the Ministry of Health.
“There have always been centenarians of Italians – observes the expert – only that at the beginning of the century there were 46 and now they are 17 thousand. The increase in 105-year-olds highlighted by the Istat report”, which counts more than a thousand, “is interesting. The human machine is ‘built’ to reach 100 years, then it also depends on luck, let’s call it that, and it can reach 105, very few reach 110 years. There is therefore a tension in reaching the century of life, but it is It is clear that you have to get there in good health – Bernabei specifies – otherwise it is a condemnation and not a privilege “.
