The term “healthspan” may be a new one for some of you, but it is something that I want you to become familiar with, because it is equally as important as your lifespan.
We all want to live a longer life, but as I note in the title of my book, Longer Healthier Life, we should also want to live a healthier life. And I would argue that a longer, more productive “healthspan” is more important than just a longer lifespan.
There is some disagreement among researchers as to the definition of healthspan. I am using it as “the period of life spent in good health, free from the chronic diseases and disabilities of ageing.” Even then, because “good health” is subjective, you’ll see a variety of definitions out there.
Regardless, I believe that everyone reading this article would prefer to expand the period of life spent in good health versus just existing for a long time. But how do we achieve this seemingly insurmountable goal when we are combated with health concerns such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, concerns for which the most common treatments include multiple drug prescriptions? This challenge is faced by an astounding number of people. Individuals over the age of 65 make up 13% of the US population, however they consume 30% of all prescription medications.
GETTING OLDER
Yes, ageing has natural changes and challenges that we all must face. The question is how do YOU face them. Do you surrender and accept these changes as just “part of getting older,” or do you fight them, stave them off, or perhaps even redirect them. As practioner of preventative medicine, I vote to fight, stave off, and redirect, particularly through choices and actions that I'll share in this series.
Beforehand, I must introduce you to a few more unfamiliar terms: xenobiotics and pharmacokinetics. A xenobiotic is defined as a chemical or substance that is foreign to an organism or biological system. Pharmacokinetics is the body’s ability to function in the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and eventually excretion of xenobiotics. Xenobiotics is a topic that I will define more completely in the second half of this two-part series, but suffice it to say that these are substances that are taken in from our external environment.
The ability of the body to perform its pharmacokinetic duties in metabolizing and excreting foreign substances greatly impacts the overall ageing process.
The ageing process affects certain areas of the body more significantly than others. One in particular is the cardiovascular system, which in turn affects the function of numerous other systems. This in turn affects the ability of the bodily systems to adapt to environmental triggers. We then begin to see the more rapid breakdown of cells, tissues, and organs in the body. This process is enhanced by such factors as the individual’s genetic makeup, exposure to external toxins including foods, environmental toxins, pharmaceuticals, alcohol, cigarettes, and other encounters with xenobiotic substances.
BREAKDOWNS
Examples of systems that breakdown as we age include the renal system (kidneys), gastrointestinal system, hepatobiliary system (liver and gallbladder), and the cardiovascular system as already mentioned.
Here are two statistics to consider.
- Breakdown on the muscular system with severe muscle loss is seen in 5-13% of the population over age 70.
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is seen in 30% of the adult population in the United States, and that number is continually rising. The accumulation of fat in the liver can lead to inflammatory hepatitis, fibrosis (scaring) of the liver and liver cancer. NAFLD is the number one cause of cirrhosis of the liver.
So, what can we do about all of this, and how can we combat it and improve your “healthspan”?
We will discuss this in our next installment in May.