Life Span Vs. Health Span

Life Span vs. Health Span – You may have heard of these two terms and wonder what the difference is. Living well and long: 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 place emphasis on our “health span.”

Ideally our health span (that functional, disease-free period of physical, mental and emotional health) should equal our life span. But, statistics show our health has steadily declined since World War II with over 50 percent of adults suffering one chronic illness or condition while others suffer multiple conditions.

It’s obvious that advancements in medicine and technology have increased overall lifespan, but the achievement of extending our health span is still lagging.

For example, let’s look at the villain cancer, the second leading cause of death in the world. Even though billions of dollars has been spent on research cancer is just as deadly now as it was 20, 30 or even 50 years ago.