Annual report 2004 - Compagnia di San Paolo

of carcinomas; to the Oncological Study and Prevention Centre in Florence, to continue a project
on the immuno-depressive effects of chemical, physical and biological agents.
As far as illness in childhood and in the elderly are concerned, in 2004 the Compagnia
concentrated its activities on the most recurrent illnesses affecting young people and the elderly.
Particular attention is given to psychic disturbances connected to food habits: in this respect,
grants were allocated to the department of Neurosciences of Turin University for a research
project on the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of eating disorders and to create a Pilot Centre
for the treatment and prevention of eating disorders at the San Giovanni Battista Hospital in Turin.
In the field of illnesses affecting the elderly, in addition to Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s
disease, particular attention has for some time been given to diabetes, which strikes ever larger
population groups and also has serious repercussions on costs for the National Health Services.
In particular, in 2004, the Compagnia awarded grants in favour of: the Centre for Interdisciplinary
Research on Auto-immune diseases of Novara, the research on genetic and serological factors
connected to diabetes; the Department of Internal medicine of the University of Turin; the
Department of Metabolic Illnesses and Diabetology of Health District No. 1 (ASL 1) of Turin and the
Diabetic Retinopathy Centre of the University of Turin.
The EPICOR Project – Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
of Federico II University of Naples
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Cardiovascular illnesses still represent the main mortality
cause in western countries: in Italy 44% of deaths can be
related to cardiopathic illnesses.
As regards determinant cardiovascular illnesses, the
literature indicates clinical conditions among the
principal risk factors (heightened cholesterol levels and
arterial blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, excess weight
and obesity) largely due to lifestyle (food habits and lack
of physical activity) or to unhealthy habits (smoking).
The EPICOR project has carried out an epidemiological
study on nutrition and cardiovascular illness, leading to
original results (ATENA Project).
The research purpose, coordinated by the Department of
Clinical and Experimental Medicine of Federico II
University of Naples, is the fine tuning of instruments of
risk assessment of cardiovascular events in relation to
diet on a national and European scale. This will lead to
develop the cardiovascular section of the international
project EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into
Cancer and Nutrition), coordinated by International
Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of Lyon, involving
23 research centres in 10 European countries. The project
goals are the following: risk estimate for major and minor
cardiovascular events related to food habits in the adult
population and both sexes in Italy, between the end of the
1990s and the beginning of 2000; the production of a
computerised data collection tool on cardiovascular
illness and death, to be used for post-hoc validation of the
diagnoses in the illness and death archives, available on
the Italian health computer systems (schedule of hospital
discharges); the transfer into a format with compatible
procedures adaptable to other countries, to put data
collection on a European scale. The Compagnia has
resolved to earmark € 390,000 to this project.