(ANSA) Trieste, August 27 - Life expectancy in Italy is increasing and Italians also place 7th in the world for the longest lives without disability, according to a study by the Global Burden of Disease published on the Lancet medical journal. "From 1990 to 2013 life expectation in Italy has increased, but expectancy of life in good health has increased more slowly," said Lorenzo Monasta from the Burlo-Garofolo Hospital of Triest, whose researchers contributed to the study. "Back and neck pain, heart disease and Alzheimer, loss of hearing, stroke, lung cancer, falls, depression and chronic pneumonoa are the illnesses that have affecterd people's wellbeing most," he said. Life expectancy in Italy has increased from 1990 to 2013 for men by 5.9 years and by 4.4 years for women.
Life expectancy in good health has increased by 4 years and 6 months for men and by 3 years and 3 months for women.
In general women still live longer than men, to 84.6 years compared to 79.5 years for men. "Life expectancy in good health takes into account not just mortality but also the impact of illnesses on people's wellbeing - indicating therefore the years lived with disability and those lost as a result of premature death.
And in Italy the increase in life expectancy in good health has not been as significant as the increase in life expectancy - people live longer but having to cope with illness and disability," Monasta said. "There is a gap of a decade between life expectancy and expectancy of life in good health.
We need to understand the main causes of loss of health, so as to make people live not just longer but also healthier".