While modernization has dramatically increased lifespan, it has also witnessed the increasing prevalence of diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. Such chronic, acquired diseases result when normal physiologic control goes awry and may thus be viewed as failures of homeostasis.
There are marked differences between the sexes in their immune response to infections and vaccination, with females often having significantly higher responses.
It is now recognized that a mild pro‐inflammatory state is correlated with the major degenerative diseases of the elderly.
Inflammation is classically recognized as an essential step for the control of microbial invasion or tissue injury as well as for the maintenance of tissue homeostasis under a variety of noxious conditions.
