Nutrition and the Biology of Human Ageing: Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
Over 150 scientists and healthcare professionals met at the Nestlé Research Center on 18-19 October 2012 for the 9th Nestlé International Nutrition Symposium.
This year’s symposium put the spotlight on human ageing.
More people are living longer than ever before. The WHO reports that the number of people aged 80 or more will quadruple between 2000 and 2050.
This population shift is a global challenge with social, political and economic implications. At the crux of the challenge are age-related health problems, which reduce the quality of life and create an economic burden on both the individual and the healthcare system.
This symposium addressed some of the scientific questions that will help the growing number of older people stay healthy, and maintain a good quality of life.
“I’m sure we all hope that understanding the biology of ageing will lead to solutions that will slow the onset of age-related diseases, and help people to be healthy and active for as long as possible into old age,” said Werner Bauer, Nestlé’s Chief Technology Officer.
“I firmly believe that good nutrition is the basis of good health. While nutrition won’t solve all the problems of old age, this symposium has shown that the right nutrition can make an important contribution,” he added.
The symposium sessions included “Ageing in the human population”, “Molecular mechanisms underlying ageing”, and “Nutritional and applied aspects of ageing”.
On the first day the speakers were Thomas Kirkwood, Newcastle University, UK; Rudolf Westendorp, Leiden University, The Netherlands; Maria Blasco, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre; Guido Kroemer, INSERM, France; Anne Brunet, Stanford University, USA.
On the second day the speakers were Gerard Karsenty, Columbia University, USA; Roger Fielding, Tufts University, USA; Simin Nikbin Meydani, Tufts University, USA; Mark Mattson, National Institute on Aging, USA; Andrew Dillin, University of California at Berkeley, USA; Jeffrey Friedman, The Rockefeller University, USA.
Nestlé speakers at the symposium were Werner Bauer, CTO, Nestlé SA; Luis Cantarell, President and CEO of Nestlé Health Science SA and Emmanuel E Baetge, Head of the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences.
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