What unites “Don’t Die” proponent, biohacker Bryan Johnson, and “Why I hope to die at 75” author, Ezekiel Emanuel, professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania?
On the surface, not much. One wants to live forever, the other hopes to die before reaching very old age. What does reluctantly unite them, however, is the concept of “healthspan” – albeit interpreted and applied in radically different ways.
So, what is “healthspan”? First of all, its meaning only emerges once its cousins, “lifespan”and “life expectancy”, have been properly defined. This is a crucial step since those terms are commonly confused.
Lifespan for humans is succinctly characterised by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the duration of existence of an individual”. So, my lifespan is my lifetime, i.e., how long I (will) actually live. And the maximum human lifespan refers to the highest verified age a human being has been known to attain – currently 122.
In contrast, the UK Office for National Statistics defines life expectancy as “a statistical measure of the average time someone is expected to live, based on the year of their birth, current age and other demographic factors including their sex”.
And now what about healthspan?
“Healthspan”or “health span” is a relatively new coinage. But it is extensively used in gerontology, preventive medicine, as well as in the longevity bubble at large. It refers to the usually shorter period within the lifespan, in which a person is (reasonably) healthy and free from disease.
For example, my lifespan could be 82 years but, depending on my (future) health status, my healthspan could end up being 65 or 80 years – meaning I could experience (very) ill health long before I die, or I could die in relatively good health.
Understandably, the healthspan concept has gained considerable traction in the longevity field because physicians and medical researchers have recognised that simply adding years to the lifespan without ensuring better health made little sense.
And this leads us back to the virtual clash between Bryan Johnson and Ezekiel Emanuel. The latter claims that lifespan may have increased but that progress in healthspan extension has proved so modest that he fears a miserable old age. The former, however, has decided to take things into his own hands and invest his entire life into the (endless) prolongation of both his life- and healthspan.
At epiAge, we tend to bet on the middle path. While we may not be able to indefinitely extend life- and healthspan, we have daily proof that lifestyle improvements have a tangible effect on overall health and may well contribute to a (much) longer healthspan.
What do you think?
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Sources and further reading
Ducharme, Jamie, “Why ‘Healthspan’ May Be More Important Than Lifespan”. Time, 30.11.2023. Online: https://time.com/6341027/what-is-healthspan-vs-lifespan/
Johnson, Bryan, „Don’t Die“ Website: https://dontdie.bryanjohnson.com/
Emanuel, Ezekiel J., “Why I hope to die at 75”, The Atlantic, October 2014, Online: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75/379329/
“lifespan”, Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Online: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lifespan
“Period and cohort life expectancy explained”, UK Office for National Statistics. Online: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/methodologies/periodandcohortlifeexpectancyexplained
“What is Health Span?”. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Online: https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/what-is-health-span
Illustration
pixabay& epiAge
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