摘要：Biomedicine, Third Millennium technologies,
and social needs of wealthy human populations
have been merging at an unexpected
pace. The millenary battle against death witnessed
a series of therapeutical results after
the Second World War: around the 1950s,
in wealthy countries, the progressive decline
of mortality (1-2% per year) in individuals
over 80 years old has been reported, so that
the number of centenarians has augmented
about 20 times [1-3]. Currently life expectancy
in Italy is 76.8 years for men and 82.9 for
women [3], and such a national picture will
deserve further reflection in this journal.
