Healthstyle Blog Life Span Vs. Health Span – Health Style Blog

Life Span Vs. Health Span

What is the difference between Life Span and Health Span? Do they mean the same thing? Can we do both?

A longer life is not always a more fulfilling life. Our concept of ageing has been changed by new research. We now focus on “healthspan” instead of how long we can live.

In an ideal world, our health span should be equal to our lifespan. Statistics show that our health is declining steadily since World War II. Over half of all adults suffer from a chronic disease or illness, while some have multiple ailments.

While advances in technology and medicine have improved our overall health, we are still far behind on extending the lifespan.

Let’s take cancer as an example. It is the second-leading cause of death worldwide. Cancer is still as lethal today as it was 20 years, 30 years or 50 ago despite billions being spent on its research.

One in two people will get cancer, and one in three of them will die from it. The statistics are alarming. Three-quarters of people fall into this category.

Even though there are more drug options, hospitals, and nursing homes, many people suffer worse than they did when their parents were at the same age.

Living with a shorter life expectancy than your health is expensive, and it’s not attractive. Experts agree that the next step in medical progress will be about lifestyle as well as medicine if we are to add life-to-years along with these extra years.

It is great news that we have control over our lives and our health. We can adjust our lifestyles to match the length of our lifespan.

Being healthy means reducing the risks of these deadly diseases. A healthy lifestyle can help reduce the risk of modern chronic “lifestyle diseases”, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, among many others.

What can we do in order to improve our lifespan?

The formula for obtaining a similar increase in health span is to adhere to healthy lifestyles such as proper exercise, eating healthy (REAL foods) and other elements of healthy lifestyles like stress management and quality sleep, and to include healthy doses or sunlight.

Many of us do not realize that muscles are more than just mobility.

Muscle mass increases our functional abilities, enhances our quality of living, and slows down the aging. Our modern, increasingly sedentary society does not provide enough exercise for muscles to stay strong. Our muscles are not strong enough because we sit most of the time.

No matter our age or how old we become, we should never stop performing strengthening exercises.

The health of your muscles protects you from metabolic decline and hormone resistance, as well as obesity, and an increased fracture risk. Neglected, it can limit your health span.

The most important biomarker is lean body mass because it has a huge impact on many biomarkers, such as the basil metabolic rate and overall body strength.

Sarcopenia – a serious loss in muscle mass and power – can set in if we do not address these problems.

Strong, toned muscles help maintain healthy blood sugar levels. They also boost the immune system, keep bones and joints in good condition, improve cognitive functions, and slow down the aging processes.

Inactivity, especially as people age, can lead to a serious health problem.

Once muscle tissue is lost, the health of an individual begins to deteriorate. This leads to a loss in energy, vitality and physical strength, a tendency to put on weight and become more susceptible to diseases, and accelerated aging.

We lose our independence when we start losing strength. Many of us can relate to this condition.

Strengthening exercises (not cardiovascular-type activities) are the best way to build muscle and maintain it. They involve slow, controlled movements of the muscles in their full range of motion under adequate resistance.

The moral of the story is: Each lifestyle decision we make today will have a direct effect on our future health.

Make today the day you become passionate about improving your health span to live a healthy and long life.

The number of years in life is less important than the life span. Living with chronic illness or disability for a long time can be a bad thing.

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