ITTHACA

Context  

Due to various factors, life expectancy in developed countries has increased, leading to an increase in the elderly population. In the OECD, the proportion of people aged 80 and over is expected to rise from 4% in 2010 to 10% in 2050, with expenditure exceeding 3% of GDP.   

In Spain, people over 55 will represent 40% of the population in 2030, and in the Basque Country, life expectancy is already over 80.   

This aging represents a social, scientific and economic challenge that promotes initiatives to promote healthy aging that maintains autonomy and quality of life. In this context, the Driving Initiative “Influential Environments for Healthy Aging” aims to extend the autonomy of the elderly by five years by 2030, within the framework of the PCTI Health Strategy of the Basque Country 2030.  

On the other hand, the knowledge applied to the improvement of the quality of life of the elderly, through the identification of markers, predictive models and sensors for in vivo monitoring, will make it possible to define and implement combined intervention strategies in the population. The goal is therefore to understand how healthy aging occurs  to improve it and to intervene and prevent the loss of capacities associated with aging. 

Aim of the project  

ITTHACA aims to improve the quality of life and promote healthy aging in the Basque Country. To that enda, the project focuses on enhancing healthy aging through:

• Identifying biomarkers and markers associated with aging. 
• Developing prediction models for aging-related outcomes. 
• Utilizing sensors for in vivo monitoring of health parameters.

Specific objectives  

The work of AZTI will focus on two aspects:  

• Determine differential aging patterns associated with dietary habits by characterizing the gut microbiota and its metabolic activity of short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production in a one-year randomized-controlled trial (total n=250; 125 control and 125 intervention), focused on 60-85-year-old males and females at risk of dementia
• To implement neuroscience technologies to identify behavioral patterns associated with emotions generated by food texture in healthy seniors and to allow their implementation as predictive models in preventive interventions for healthy aging. These studies will be conducted with participants in intervention studies designed by CITA.