Peter Attia MD - What is healthspan? | Nir Barzilai and Peter Attia
The conversation addresses the challenges in defining and measuring health span, emphasizing that current medical definitions focusing on freedom from disability and disease are insufficient. Many individuals may not be classified as disabled but still have a poor health span due to factors like physical and cognitive abilities. The discussion points out that traditional metrics do not account for differences in physical capabilities, such as VO2 max or grip strength, which can significantly impact quality of life. Furthermore, medical training often lacks preparation for enhancing health span in later life. The conversation also touches on the economic implications of health span, noting that centenarians incur lower medical costs in their last years compared to younger elderly individuals. This suggests a compressed morbidity period, indicating a better quality of life. Additionally, increasing health span can have significant economic benefits, as healthier individuals contribute more to the economy through activities like travel and work.
Key Points:
- Current health span metrics are inadequate, focusing too narrowly on disability and disease.
- Physical capabilities like VO2 max and grip strength are crucial for assessing health span.
- Medical training lacks focus on improving health span in older adults.
- Centenarians have lower medical costs in their last years, indicating compressed morbidity.
- Improving health span has economic benefits, as healthier individuals contribute more to society.
Details:
1. 🔍 Defining and Measuring Health Span
- Current definitions of health span focus primarily on the absence of disability and disease, which are insufficient to fully capture the concept of health span.
- Emotional health is a critical component of health span that is often overlooked in traditional definitions, yet it significantly impacts overall well-being.
- Physical capabilities, such as those measured by VO2 Max and grip strength, reveal significant differences between individuals that are not accounted for in current health span metrics.
- Comprehensive metrics are needed to better reflect true differences in individuals' health spans, considering both physical and emotional health aspects.
- Examples of studies or proposed comprehensive metrics could enhance understanding and application of the health span concept.
2. 🧠 Gaps in Medical Training for Health Span
- Medical training fails to adequately prepare professionals to assist individuals in maintaining strength and health as they age, highlighting a significant educational gap in health span.
- Current medical education lacks the tools to interpret health span data effectively, such as differentiating between genuine health span improvements and compressed morbidity in populations.
- There is difficulty in quantifying the functional age of individuals, like a 90-year-old potentially functioning as a 70-year-old due to genetics or lifestyle, due to insufficient metrics.
- Despite some literature suggesting compressed morbidity in later life, definitive proof of health span improvements is not well established, reflecting a gap in research and training.
3. 📊 Challenges in Health Span Metrics and Aging
- The NIH measures aging primarily by the ability to prevent diseases, a metric necessary for drug approval but often considered inadequate by geriatricians and physicians, who seek more comprehensive approaches.
- Medical costs in the last two years of life are significantly lower for centenarians compared to those who die at 70, illustrating the economic benefits of increased longevity and potentially better quality of life.
- The statistic regarding centenarian healthcare costs suggests that living longer may be associated with improved health outcomes and reduced medical expenses in later years. This underscores the importance of developing metrics that better capture the nuances of health span beyond disease prevention.
4. 💼 Economic Impact of Prolonging Health Span
- Extending an individual's health span significantly boosts economic value by reducing medical costs and enhancing life quality.
- Increased health span translates to higher consumer spending on travel, technology, and housing, thereby stimulating economic growth.
- A longer health span allows individuals to remain in the workforce longer, contributing to economic productivity.
- The comprehensive economic impact includes both direct savings from healthcare and indirect contributions through increased consumer activity and workforce participation.
- For example, in sectors such as travel and real estate, extended health spans drive demand and economic activity as older adults continue engaging in these markets.
- Overall, the extension of health spans results in substantial economic gains by enhancing individual life value and supporting broader economic systems.