Life Span Vs. Health Duration – You may have heard of these two terms and are wondering what the difference is. Living well and for a long time: Are they the same? Can we do both?
Living a longer life does not necessarily mean a better life. New research has changed our concept of aging. Instead of worrying about how long we live, our life span, we now put the emphasis on our “health span.”
Ideally, our length of health (that period of functional, disease-free physical, mental, and emotional health) should equal the length of our life. Yet statistics show that our health has steadily declined since World War II, with more than 50 percent of adults suffering from one chronic disease or condition, while others suffer from multiple conditions.
It is obvious that advances in medicine and technology have increased life expectancy in general, but the achievement of extending our life expectancy still lags behind.
For example, let’s look at the villain cancer, the second leading cause of death in the world. Despite billions of dollars spent on research, cancer is as deadly now as it was 20, 30 or even 50 years ago.
The average person has a one in two chance of getting cancer and a one in three chance of dying from it. Three-quarters of the population already falls into this category, and sadly, these numbers are expected to skyrocket as the number of overweight and obese people rises to unprecedented levels.
The reality is that even with more drugs, more hospitals, and more nursing homes available, many people still suffer more than their parents did at a similar age.
Living with a lifetime that does not correspond to your health is very expensive and a much less attractive option. If along with those extra years of life, life must be added to the years, experts agree that the next chapter in medical advancement should be as much about “lifestyle as medicine.”
This is wonderful news as it means that we have a lot of control and can structure our lifestyle to ensure that our period of health matches our period of life.
A big part of being healthy is about eliminating the risk of contracting these killers. To reduce the chance of developing modern “chronic lifestyle diseases” like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, along with hundreds of others, a healthy lifestyle must begin in childhood and last throughout adulthood.
So what can we do to increase our health?
It is now becoming apparent that adherence to healthy lifestyle choices like proper exercise, healthy eating (REAL food), and other healthy lifestyle elements like stress management, quality sleep, and healthy doses of sunlight is the formula. required to gain a comparable increase in “health”. .”
A focus on lean body mass, which is the amount of lean muscle tissue we have, is vitally important and many of us don’t understand that our muscles go far beyond mobility.
The increase in muscle mass helps delay the aging process, improve our functionality and improve our quality of life. Unfortunately, our modern, increasingly sedentary world doesn’t offer enough “work” for our muscles to stay strong. We literally sit most of the day and don’t get enough muscle development and maintenance activity.
The only way to make sure we get enough of the right activity is to add intentional strengthening exercises to our lives and never stop doing them no matter how old or how old we are.
Muscle health protects against metabolic and hormonal decline, insulin resistance, obesity, and increased risk of fractures. When neglected, it will limit the duration of health.
Lean body mass is the MOST important biomarker because it greatly influences many other biomarkers including metabolic rate, overall body strength, bone density, and brain health.
If we ignore these problems and do nothing about them, sarcopenia sets in, the severe loss of muscle mass and strength.
Strong, toned muscles maintain optimal blood sugar levels, increase heart strength and immune system health, maintain healthy bones and joints, and improve cognitive function while slowing the aging process.
Given the metabolic and biological importance of healthy muscle mass, allowing this system to break down through inactivity, particularly as we age, can set the stage for a significant health crisis.
In short, once muscle loss begins, health is on a slippery slope, leading to changes in unhealthy body composition (muscle/fat ratio), loss of physical energy and vitality, increased tendency to gain weight , increased vulnerability to disease and acceleration of the aging process
When strength is lost, the loss of independence also disappears and we become too frail to move without help to take care of ourselves. A condition that many of us have seen with our parents and grandparents.
Participating in strengthening exercises (not cardio-type activities) defined as slow, direct controlled loading of muscles through their ranges of motion with adequate resistance is the key to rebuilding lost muscle mass and strengthening or maintaining it.
Moral of the story: Every lifestyle choice we make has a direct impact on our health now and in the future.
Decide today to become passionate about increasing your own health. for a long and healthy life.
It is not so much about years of life, but about life in years. A long life with a high burden of chronic disease is not good if it means more time is spent living with illness and disability.