De Flora Silvio, Quaglia Alberto, Bennicelli Carlo, Vercelli Marina
Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Via A. Pastore 1, I-16132 Genoa, Italy.
FASEB J. 2005 Jun;19(8):892-7. doi: 10.1096/fj.04-3541rev.
Until 100 years ago the epidemiological scenario of human diseases had substantially remained unchanged. The 20th century has been characterized by a fantastic advance in life expectancy and by a shift from infectious to chronic degenerative diseases as prevailing causes of death. As an example of the epidemiological revolution in a developed country, we reconstructed, year by year from 1901 to 2000, the situation in Italy. Reference to the situation in other countries is also made. Both crude and age-adjusted mortality data were made available for males and females. A new turning point became evident in the second half of the 20th century with the decline of mortality for cardiovascular diseases and, more recently, for tumors. This review discusses the roots and rationale for these epidemiological changes. The discoveries made in the area of biomedical sciences, the progress in preventive and curative medicine, and the improvement of hygienic conditions have been so spectacular that 1 million lives are saved every year in Italy as compared with the late 19th century.
直到100年前，人类疾病的流行病学情况基本保持不变。20世纪的特点是预期寿命大幅提高，以及主要死因从传染病向慢性退行性疾病转变。作为发达国家流行病学革命的一个例子，我们逐年重构了1901年至2000年意大利的情况。文中也提及了其他国家的情况。提供了男性和女性的粗死亡率和年龄调整死亡率数据。20世纪下半叶，随着心血管疾病死亡率的下降，以及最近肿瘤死亡率的下降，一个新的转折点变得明显。这篇综述讨论了这些流行病学变化的根源和基本原理。生物医学科学领域的发现、预防和治疗医学的进步以及卫生条件的改善都非常显著，与19世纪后期相比，意大利每年挽救了100万人的生命。
