For some longer healthspan ^= longer lifespan

[corybroo]

MedicalXpress has an article Eat less and live a long healthy life? Study shows 'not in all cases'

  It challenges the idea that CR will extend both lifespan and healthspan based on a study of 160 genetically distinct strains of fruit fly D. melanogaster.  They measured nutrient-dependent changes in lifespan and age-related changes in activity for healthspan.  97 percent of strains showed some lifespan or healthspan extension in response to dietary restriction, only 50 percent of strains showed a significantly positive response to dietary restriction for both.  13% were more vigorous but died sooner; 5% lived longer but with more time in poor health; and 32% showed no benefit or detriment . 

They identified a gene that when inhibited extends lifespan without changing health span.  They found a second gene that when inhibited delays age related decline in physical activity with at best minimal change to lifespan.

This is a study of fruit flys not humans and only climbing ability was used to assess physical ability.

[TomBAvoider]

That extended healthspan is not linked 1:1 with lifespan has long been known and frequently discussed on these boards (especially by me!). I have always believed that there's an inherent genetic limit to our lifespan each of us has, and it's not amenable to most interventions - at best you can reach it, by optimal living. So, if your body limit is 85, you can live a shorter life by bad habits, but you cannot extend beyond 85 by good habits. There are hints of this all over, people who take great care with their diet and exercise, but drop dead relatively soon, and folks with atrocious habits who nonetheless live to a ripe old age. 

Healthspan does appear more amenable to intervention though, and many of us have resigned ourselves to keeping our expectations in check - I don't have any hope I can extend my lifespan, but hope that I can extend my healthspan to the max. 

Here's something amusing I came across a few weeks ago - I was researching exercise and came across a post about some known athlete or another, and the discussion was regarding the benefits of pull-ups and upper body exercise; someone casually noted that yes, pull-ups are very beneficial and can be done at any age in fact that athlete just completed his usual routine of pullups the day before he died at 87. Well, to me, that is a classic case of someone who has extended his healthspan to the max - he could still do pullups and his full exercise routine until practically the moment he died. So healthy as all get-out... still didn't extend his lifespan though! Usually we think of health deteriorating in the last period of life which leads to death, but that's not the case - we can be healthy and our health status does not lead to death. There is not a dose-dependent relationship. They are only connected at the extremes - very poor health can limit your lifespan, but excellent health can only fulfill your genetic potential, not extend it.

By the way I just read an article about the last man in the U.S. still using an iron lung - he's been using it since he was a small child, paralyzed from the neck down due to polio. Today he's 74 years old. Tell that to someone who stresses exercise as important to longevity - and then look at someone like Jimmy Fixx. 

Brian May, vegetarian - vegan for many years, exerciser, non-drug user, regular health checkups, almost died at 72 - whereas someone in an iron lung since early childhood almost outlived him at 74 (and may still do so!). Iron lung - talk about sedentary lifestyle. 

There is not much we can do to affect our healthspan, and next to nothing - at present, provably - that can extend our lifespan.

[Ron Put]

1 hour ago, TomBAvoider said:

There is not much we can do to affect our healthspan, and next to nothing - at present, provably - that can extend our lifespan.

We are a bit different than fruit flies, so I have to agree with Tom.

But, stuff like heavy smoking, binge drinking, regular KFC dinners and prolific meth use might affect both healthspan and lifespan, significantly :)

[Annik]

2 hours ago, TomBAvoider said:

That extended healthspan is not linked 1:1 with lifespan has long been known and frequently discussed on these boards (especially by me!). I have always believed that there's an inherent genetic limit to our lifespan each of us has, and it's not amenable to most interventions - at best you can reach it, by optimal living. So, if your body limit is 85, you can live a shorter life by bad habits, but you cannot extend beyond 85 by good habits. There are hints of this all over, people who take great care with their diet and exercise, but drop dead relatively soon, and folks with atrocious habits who nonetheless live to a ripe old age. 

Healthspan does appear more amenable to intervention though, and many of us have resigned ourselves to keeping our expectations in check - I don't have any hope I can extend my lifespan, but hope that I can extend my healthspan to the max. 

Here's something amusing I came across a few weeks ago - I was researching exercise and came across a post about some known athlete or another, and the discussion was regarding the benefits of pull-ups and upper body exercise; someone casually noted that yes, pull-ups are very beneficial and can be done at any age in fact that athlete just completed his usual routine of pullups the day before he died at 87. Well, to me, that is a classic case of someone who has extended his healthspan to the max - he could still do pullups and his full exercise routine until practically the moment he died. So healthy as all get-out... still didn't extend his lifespan though! Usually we think of health deteriorating in the last period of life which leads to death, but that's not the case - we can be healthy and our health status does not lead to death. There is not a dose-dependent relationship. They are only connected at the extremes - very poor health can limit your lifespan, but excellent health can only fulfill your genetic potential, not extend it.

By the way I just read an article about the last man in the U.S. still using an iron lung - he's been using it since he was a small child, paralyzed from the neck down due to polio. Today he's 74 years old. Tell that to someone who stresses exercise as important to longevity - and then look at someone like Jimmy Fixx. 

Brian May, vegetarian - vegan for many years, exerciser, non-drug user, regular health checkups, almost died at 72 - whereas someone in an iron lung since early childhood almost outlived him at 74 (and may still do so!). Iron lung - talk about sedentary lifestyle. 

There is not much we can do to affect our healthspan, and next to nothing - at present, provably - that can extend our lifespan.

Are you familiar with the work of Dr. David Sinclair? https://lifespanbook.com/

His research is well-worth checking out. I may start a thread on this soon.

[TomBAvoider]

His work has been discussed multiple times on these boards. There may be threads dedicated to this book, but the book (and all his work) has been repeatedly discussed.