Let’s Talk About Healthspan
I want to live to the ripe old age of 100. I know, a phrase we don’t hear often anymore, and an age most of us won’t reach, according to the data. Damn the data. That’s fine, I like lofty goals, and I am working hard to reach this goal. Topic(s) for a future conversation maybe?
My wife on the other hand wants to “check out” at 65. Or so she has been saying for many years. Why you may ask? (I am certainly asking since I passed 65 many years ago.) She is afraid of getting old and the difficulties it can bring. I understand, and she may not be wrong, but is she right?
Let’s talk about Healthspan.
The concept of healthspan is relatively new in geroscience, which seeks to understand the mechanisms of aging. Prior to the year 2000, only 14 papers were indexed on PubMed with healthspan. By 2018, that number grew to over 900. As a side note, the spell check on my computer does not recognize the word healthspan as it continues to highlight it as incorrect spelling. Nope, it is a word.
What exactly is “healthspan”? I am glad you asked. Healthspan, most would agree, is the life spent in good health, free from chronic disease and disabilities caused by aging. I would add that it should include the ability to self manage our ADL’s (activities of daily living).
Compare this to “lifespan” defined as the period of time between birth and death. As illustrated in the visual above this includes a time in our lives when our health could become a problem(see #3 in illustration). My wife may be shaking her head about now to indicate that her opinion has been validated. Again, I understand, but not so fast.
We may have a solution. We need to expand our healthspan to match, as closely as possible, our lifespan. Doing this to minimize our time of a difficult final chapter in our life. Seems pretty intuitive to me. Why did it take so many years for the “experts” to write about it?
Roger Landry, MD and MPH wrote the book Live Long, Die Short, which should be the mantra for the concept of extending our healthspan. His book provides 10 tips to achieve authentic health and successful aging. He goes on to say, how we age is mostly up to us and the choices we make every day. I would encourage you to read his book, right after you finish mine.
By focusing on a lifestyle that promotes long term wellness, we can create a future that can be filled with energy, vitality, independence and joy.
Here is a thought. Let’s start today. Small changes compound into big results. Our future self will thank us.
Enjoy your day.
Just a little extra-
Healthspan is a topic I can’t get enough of, and may be part of future conversations.
Extending our healthspan shifts the narrative from decline to growth. It empowers us to see a period of opportunity rather than limitations.
Healthspan is not just about adding years to our life, it is more about adding life to our years. Maybe an overused cliche, but one that fits this narrative.
I think I may mention this to my wife.
References
Landry, Roger. His book Live Long, Die Short.
Kaeberlein, Matt. August 6, 2018. How Healthy is the Healthspan Concept. PubMed
(Yep, one of over 900 articles)