Advances in the field of pharmacology have increased life expectancy in recent years, but have not succeeded in ridding us of diseases, which now appear much earlier in life and in many more people than in the past. Is this inevitable? No, answer the experts, who shared scientifically proven tips for a long and good life with the audience of the 9th Delphi Economic Forum. The Economic Forum of Delphi takes place in Delphi April 10-13 and is under the auspices of A.E. of the President of the Republic, Mrs. Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

“In the last 70 years life expectancy has increased, mainly thanks to the good medicines we have. However, psychosocial stress is ubiquitous starting from fetal age, while overweight and obesity also begin early in life,” said Giorgos Chrousos, Professor of Pediatrics & Endocrinology, School of Medicine, National & Kapodistrian University. A third of obese and overweight people at the age of 50 have full metabolic syndrome and another third have partial metabolic syndrome, while the chronic activation of the stress system is combined with an increase in cortisol and inflammatory cytokines, Mr. Chroussos pointed out. What does this mean; Psychosomatic, depression, addictions, antisocial behavior, decreased libido, fatigue, pain, weight gain, inflammation, immune dysfunction, infertility, cardiovascular disease, dementia, osteopenia, premature aging, predisposition to infections and cancer development, among others. What can we do to live longer and well? Referring to Hippocrates, Mr. Chroussos mentioned: diet, exercise, sleep, normal frequency of sleep and meals, stress management. “By implementing these simple things early on, you have a solid start to life.”

“We have managed to increase life expectancy. But what about the years we live without illness or disability? It seems that we did not succeed in this,” she said Kalliopi Kalaitzi, MD Founder & chief medical officer, The longevity & wellbeing clinic, Greece, pointing out that of the 56 million deaths recorded by the WHO in 2015, 40 were due to preventable diseases. Why is this happening; “It seems that health systems are more disease systems and less health systems, even though what determines the likelihood of dying early is only 10% related to the health system. 40% has to do with lifestyle and 30% has to do with genetics. So we give all our money to this 10% and close our eyes to the 90% that can play a more important role” he emphasized. And while making lifestyle changes may seem expensive on an individual level, for health systems it actually represents savings. Some say we can achieve this in the future with drugs. What can we do immediately? Studies show that “never smoking, having a normal body mass index (BMI ≤23), moderate alcohol consumption, a healthy (Mediterranean) diet and physical activity for 30 minutes a day” can provide up to 43 extra healthy years of life, he concluded.

Taking the floor o Thodoris Fessas, President, Quest Holdings reported that 50% of health spending is on treating just five chronic diseases, with 20% of US GDP absorbed by the health system. “So a healthy population, in addition to reducing health costs, also offers to the economy since there is a greater supply of work” he added, emphasizing the benefits that the huge advancement of technology has for us to live longer and better. At the level of diagnosis, for example, the annual MRI could detect a disease before it manifests itself or in its initial stages, while wearables could protect us from cardiovascular events, said Mr. Fessas.

The debate was moderated by Vicky Flessa, Classical Philologist, Journalist, ERT, Television Station of the Hellenic Parliament.